Am J Emerg Med. 2021 Jan 9;42:60-69. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2021.01.006. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), an inflammatory marker, was suggested to be predictive of severity and mortality in COVID-19 patients. Here, we investigated whether NLR levels on admission could predict the severity and mortality of COVID-19 patients.
METHODS: A literature search was conducted on 23 July 2020 to retrieve all published articles, including grey literature and preprints, investigating the association between on-admission NLR values and severity or mortality in COVID-19 patients. A meta-analysis was performed to determine the overall standardized mean difference (SMD) in NLR values and the pooled risk ratio (RR) for severity and mortality with the 95% Confidence Interval (95%CI).
RESULTS: A total of 38 articles, including 5699 patients with severity outcomes and 6033 patients with mortality outcomes, were included. The meta-analysis showed that severe and non-survivors of COVID-19 had higher on-admission NLR levels than non-severe and survivors (SMD 0.88; 95%CI 0.72-1.04; I2 = 75.52% and 1.87; 95%CI 1.25-2.49; I2 = 97.81%, respectively). Regardless of the different NLR cut-off values, the pooled mortality RR in patients with elevated vs. normal NLR levels was 2.74 (95%CI 0.98-7.66).
CONCLUSION: High NLR levels on admission were associated with severe COVID-19 and mortality. Further studies need to focus on determining the optimal cut-off value for NLR before clinical use.
PMID:33453617 | PMC:PMC7832118 | DOI:10.1016/j.ajem.2021.01.006