title: Is neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio a useful marker to predict the severity of pre-eclampsia?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the relationship of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with proteinuria and blood pressure level in patients with pre-eclampsia and to investigate whether or not NLR has a role in predicting the severity of pre-eclampsia.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study comprised 30 healthy pregnant females (Group 1), 37 females with mild pre-eclampsia (Group 2) and 40 with severe pre-eclampsia (Group 3). All the study participants were statistically compared in respect of demographic data, proteinuria levels, and blood pressure levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age, body mass index, and gestational weeks were similar in all the groups. Maternal NLR was determined to be significantly high in the pre-eclamptic patients (Groups 2 and 3) compared to the healthy pregnant patients (Group 1) (p=0.017). NLR was significantly higher in the severe pre-eclampsia group than in the mild pre-eclampsia group (p=0.032). A significant positive correlation was determined in correlation analysis between NLR and proteinuria (p=0.013, r=0.319). There was also a significant and positive correlation between NLR and systolic/diastolic arterial pressure (p=0.007, r=0.285; p=0.044, r=0.213, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, while NLR was determined as significantly high in patients with pre-eclampsia, to be able to use this in the classification of the severity of pre-eclampsia, there is a need for further studies on a more extensive population.
authors.affiliation: Tatvan State Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, Bitlis, Turkey.
authors.forename: Salih
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Serin
authors.affiliation: Aksehir State Hospital, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic, Konya, Turkey. Electronic address: fazilavci01@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Fazıl
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Avcı
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, School of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey.
authors.forename: Onder
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, School of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Köstü
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, School of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bakacak
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, School of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kıran
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008214:Lymphocytes; D009504:Neutrophils; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Lymphocyte; Neutrophil; Pre-eclampsia; Pregnancy; Severity