Korean J Dermatol.  2022 Jul;60(6):364-370.

Role of the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Predictor of Prognosis in Cellulitis

• Lee KH
• Lee SY
• Oh CH
• Park K

Abstract

Background
Cellulitis is an inflammatory disease of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by bacterial infection and is one of the most common reasons for admission to the Department of Dermatology. There are many biomarkers to help diagnose inflammatory diseases, and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently been raised as an option.
Objective
This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of pretreatment NLR for predicting the severity and prognosis of cellulitis.
Methods
We reviewed the medical records of 102 patients diagnosed with cellulitis over the past 5 years. White blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, procalcitonin level, and NLR were measured on the first day of admission. The associations of CRP, procalcitonin, and NLR ratio with body temperature and number of hospitalization days were assessed.
Results
The CRP level and NLR were positively correlated with body temperature. In addition, positive correlations were found between the number of hospitalization days and biomarkers (p＜0.05), with the NLR showing the highest coefficients.
Conclusion
In patients with cellulitis, the NLR is a helpful parameter for evaluating the severity and prognosis of the disease. However, further studies are required to confirm this.

Keyword

Cellulitis; Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; Procalcitonin