Prognostic Nutritional Index As a Predictor of In-Hospital Mortality in Patients with Ischemic Hepatitis

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Ischemic hepatitis (IH), a life-threatening medical disease, requires treatment in the shortest possible time. The present study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) for IH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 40 patients admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of IH. The patients were classified into two groups (survivals and non-survivals) and they were compared according to their clinical and laboratory characteristics. PNI was calculated as 10 x serum albumin (g/dL) + 0.005 x total lymphocyte count (per mm3). We also used a logistic regression to identify any risk factors of in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: The mean age of the study cohort was 72 +/- 12 years. Of the patients, 25 (64.1%) were male, and 21 (52.5%) died during their intensive coronary unit stay. The PNI levels were significantly lower in the non-survival group than in the survival group (40.9 +/- 6.7 vs 32.9 +/- 5.8, p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that the PNI [odds ratio (OR): 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.97-0.99, ps0.001], glucose (OR: 2.54, 95% CI: 1.644.29, ps0.001), albumin (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.91-0.996, ps0.001), red cell distribution width (OR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98-0.99, ps0.001) independently predicted in-hospital mortality. CONCLUSION: The PNI is an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality in patients with a diagnosis of IH.