Systemic inflammatory indices in vernal and seasonal allergic conjunctivitis: A comparative study in children

Purpose To evaluate the clinical utility of novel systemic inflammatory indices in pediatric allergic conjunctivitis and to examine their relationship with disease severity. Methods This prospective, cross-sectional study included 28 patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC), 32 with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC), and 32 healthy controls. Systemic inflammatory indices were calculated using complete blood count (CBC) and albumin data. Clinical symptom and sign scores were recorded in the VKC group. Intergroup comparisons for both CBC values as well as inflammatory biomarkers were investigated. Results Hemoglobin and platelet counts were significantly higher in VKC patients compared to controls ( p = 0.024 and p = 0.012, respectively), while eosinophil counts were elevated in both VKC and SAC groups relative to controls ( p = 0.002 and p < 0.001). SII, SIRI, and PIV values were significantly higher in VKC patients than in both SAC and control groups ( p < 0.05), whereas NLR, PLR, and HALP did not differ significantly among the groups. No statistically significant correlations were found between inflammatory indices and clinical symptom or sign scores in the VKC group. Conclusion Composite inflammatory indices, particularly SII, SIRI, and PIV, may support the distinction between VKC and SAC at a group level by reflecting differences in systemic immune activation. Although these indices were not associated with clinical severity scores, their elevation in VKC underscores underlying immunological differences between chronic and milder allergic conjunctivitis subtypes and suggests a potential role for systemic inflammatory indices as adjunctive tools to support clinical assessment.