Association between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in the first seven days of sepsis and mortality

IntroductionThe neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in the diagnosis of sepsis has been found to be higher in non-survivors than in survivors, and that is associated with mortality. A higher NLR in non-survivors than in survivors has been reported in two studies during patient follow-up; however, NLR was not controlled for sepsis severity. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine whether there is an association between NLR in the first seven days and mortality controlling for sepsis severity.MethodsThis observational study, which included septic patients, was conducted in the Intensive Care Units of 3 Spanish hospitals. NLR was recorded on the first, fourth, and eighth day of sepsis. Multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out to determine the association between NLR during the first 7 days of sepsis diagnosis and mortality controlling for sepsis severity.ResultsThirty-day non-surviving patients (n = 68) compared to surviving patients (n = 135) showed higher NLR on the first (p < 0.001), fourth (p < 0.001), and eighth (p < 0.001) day of sepsis diagnosis. Multiple logistic regression analysis found an association between NLR at days first (p < 0.001), fourth (p = 0.004), and eighth (p = 0.01) of sepsis diagnosis and mortality controlling for SOFA and lactic acid in those days.ConclusionsThe new finding of our study was the association between NLR in the first seven days of sepsis and mortality controlling for sepsis severity.