ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Acute respiratory distress syndrome, due to SARS-CoV-2, is a worldwide health problem. The neutrophil-lymphocyte index allows risk stratification in patients with severe and poor prognostic data, since it reflects the inflammatory state. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Index delta predicts mortality in patients with COVID-19. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal, comparative study in patients with COVID-19, older than 18 years, admitted to the ICU. We evaluated HAS, DM, obesity, COPD, asthma, PaO2/FiO2, tomographic severity. On admission and on days 3 and 7 we measured Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Index, SOFA and APACHE score. For statistical analysis, we performed ROC and Kaplan-Meyer curves. RESULTS: We included 180 patients with COVID-19, 63 died (35%). Delta INL1(Day1-day3)>4.11 was associated with mortality (AUC:0.633);sensitivity 55.56% and specificity 77.78%, CI95 0.55-0.70, for delta INL2 (Day1-day7)>8.95 (AUC:0.623);sensitivity 44.44% and specificity 84.62%, CI95 0.54-0.69. Difference in survival was observed for Delta1. SOFA scale >6, was associated with more days of mechanical ventilation and lower PaO2/FiO2 (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: INL delta between the day of ICU admission and the 3rd day of evolution is a predictor of mortality in critically ill patients.