Comparison between the prognostic value of the white blood cell differential count and morphological parameters of neutrophils and lymphocytes in severely injured patients for 7-day in-hospital mortality.

Context: Current laboratory parameters provide limited information about the prognosis of severely injured patients; therefore, novel laboratory parameters are needed. Materials and methods: We compared the morphological parameters of neutrophils and lymphocytes, and white blood cell (WBC) differential count between survivors and nonsurvivors within 7 days after admission. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify independent prognostic factors for 7-day in-hospital mortality. Results: Neutrophil cell size was significantly different between survivors and nonsurvivors (p = 0.04), whereas WBC count and differential were not significantly different. Multiple logistic regression showed that neutrophil cell size was a significant predictor of poor outcome. Conclusions: Neutrophil cell size at admission is a prognostic factor for 7-day in-hospital mortality in severely injured trauma patients, whereas conventional WBC count and differential have no prognostic value.