Investigation of the Effect of Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio on Mortality in Late-Onset Neonatal Sepsis

Objective: Neonatal Sepsis (NS) is a term used to define any systemic bacterial infection in the first month of life. NS continues to be a major factor for morbidity and mortality in newly born babies both in developed and developing countries. The selection of tests for early diagnosis of sepsis and the acceleration of the initiation of the treatment process are of critical importance in reducing morbidity and mortality. This study aimed at determining the significance of Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and its relationship with mortality in preterm or full-term babies born with sepsis. Method: The study retrospectively included inpatient preterm and full-term babies with late-onset NS who were treated between January 2012 and January 2014 at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of Zekai Tahir Gynaecology Training and Research Hospital. Those who did not have any clinical conditions or laboratory findings indicating sepsis such as jaundice were included in the control group. The variables studied in the groups were maternal age, maternal clinical diseases, maternal infections, and prepartum and postpartum problems during treatment. Results: The NLR values of the groups were compared with respect to infection. The patient group was found to have higher Neutrophil (p=0,005), NLO (p0.05). Conclusion: As a result of the analyses performed in our study, it was determined that NLR is important in the early diagnosis of neonatal late onset sepsis. However, it was found that NLR had no effect on predicting mortality