Acute pancreatitis (AP) is usually a self-limiting process; however, 25 % of patients present with or subsequently develop a severe form of the disease that is associated with a mortality of up to 50 %.The neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a measure of the divergence of these two WCC (white cell count) components (lymphocytes and neutrophils), which may be more accurate than the total WCC or individual neutrophil/lymphocyte counts in predicting poor outcome in patients with acute pancreatitis.