Evaluation of the efficacy of systemic inflammatory indices in determining mortality in very low birth weight infants

OBJECTIVE: In our study, we aimed to investigate whether systemic inflammatory indices could be an indicator of mortality in very low birth weight (<1,500 g) preterm infants. METHODS: Very low birth weight preterm infants were included in our study, and patient data were recorded retrospectively. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, systemic immune-inflammation index, pan-immune-inflammation value, and systemic inflammation response index were calculated and recorded. The survivors and infants who died were compared for systemic inflammatory indices. RESULTS: A total of 1,243 very low birth weight infants were included in the study. Of the patients, 1,034 survived and 209 died. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, pan-immune-inflammation value, systemic immune-inflammation index, and systemic inflammation response index were found to be statistically significantly lower in the mortality group than those in the survivor group (p=0.039, p=0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, and p=0.002, respectively). According to the receiver operating curve analysis, systemic immune-inflammation index with the highest area under the curve (0.844) was found to be the most effective systemic inflammatory indices in predicting mortality with a cutoff level of ≤28.87 (p=0.0001). Multiple regression analysis showed that a lower level of systemic immune-inflammation index (≤28.87) was independently associated with mortality (OR: 1.677, 95%CI 1.061–2.685, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: We have shown that low systemic immune-inflammation index value in very low birth weight preterm infants may be a novel systemic inflammatory index that can be used to predict mortality.