en pacientes gestantes con preeclampsia del Hospital General de Latacunga, Ecuador.

Objective: To evaluate the Neutrophil/Lymphocyte ratio (NLR) as a predictor of pre-eclampsia in pregnant patients of the Hospital General de Latacunga, Ecuador. Materials and methods: An observational, analytical, control case study was carried out in patients with pre-eclampsia diagnosis admitted in the mentioned hospital, during the period January to June 2018. The sample selection was made by an intentional sampling, obtaining a final sample of 110 pre-eclamptic patients and at least 1 control patient. All of them had a complete hematology and the LNR was classified as low (<4.1) and high (>4.1). Results: In total, 110 patients with pre-eclampsia and 177 control patients were evaluated. Patients with pre-eclampsia showed a higher frequency of cesarean delivery, nulliparity, and a history of pre-eclampsia, as well as a higher overall age, weeks of gestational age, neutrophil count, and NLR (normotensive: 3±0.4 vs pre-eclamptic: 4.9±1.2). When classifying the NLR, it was observed a sensitivity: 83.6%; specificity: 83.1%; Positive Predictive Value: 75.4%; Negative Predictive Value: 89.1%forthe diagnosis of pre-eclampsia. Conclusion: NLR is an inflammatory biomarker that is higher in pregnant women with pre-eclampsia compared to normotensive patients, and it also shows high sensitivity and specificity values for pre-eclampsia diagnosis in pregnant women admitted to the Hospital General de Latacunga, Ecuador. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]