Valor predictivo del índice neutrófilos/linfocitos en pacientes con cirrosis hepática en el Hospital General Guasmo Sur durante el periodo 2018-2019.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a cost-effective biomarker that reflects the progress of inflammatory and immune status in patients with liver cirrosis. An elevated NLR is associated with disease progression and mortality. OBJECTIVES: We aim to correlate NLR with disease stage, MELDNa score, complications and in-hospital mortality. METHODS: A descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was performed by reviewing clinical records of Guasmo Sur General Hospital from 2018 to 2019. Thirty-one patients from the hospitalization service diagnosed with liver cirrosis were included, absolute neutrophil and lymphocyte count was recorded to calculate INL, and subsequently MELDNa score was determined with blood biochemical values. Student’s t-distribution and Chi-squared tests were performed for statistical analysis of the variables. RESULTS: Out of the 131 patients in our study, the majority were male (51.1%) and the mean age was 62.60 years. The most frequent clinical feature and complication was digestive bleeding (27.1%) and hemorrhagic varices (31.3%), respectively. The average NLR was 8.35. The population was divided into two categories based on a cut-off point (8.9). In the NLR ≥ 8.9 group, 52.6% had advanced stages of the disease (p=0.01), the mean MELDNa was 20.88 (p<0.01) and in-hospital mortality was 50% (p<0.01). No statistically significant differences were found between NLR and length of hospital stay and the number of complications. CONCLUSIONS: The increase of NLR is related to in-hospital mortality, MELDNa score and the stage of the disease in patients with liver cirrosis. However, it was unable to predict complications and length of hospital stay.