The diagnostic and prognostic role of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Expert Rev Mol Diagn
; 21(5): 505-514, 2021 05.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1177211
ABSTRACT
Background:
The world urgently requires surrogate markers to diagnose COVID-19 and predict its progression. The severity is not easily predicted via currently used biomarkers. Critical COVID-19 patients need to be screened for hyperinflammation to improve mortality but expensive cytokine measurement is not routinely conducted in most laboratories. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a novel biomarker in patients with various diseases. We evaluated the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy of the NLR in COVID-19 patients.Methods:
We searched for relevant articles in seven databases. The quantitative analysis was conducted if at least two studies were evaluating the NLR role in COVID-19.Results:
We included 8,120 individuals, including 7,482 COVID-19 patients, from 32 articles. Patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher levels of NLR compared to negative individuals. Advanced COVID-19 stages had significantly higher levels of NLR than earlier stages.Expert Opinion We found significantly higher levels of NLR in advanced stages compared to earlier stages of COVID-19 with good accuracy to diagnose and predict the disease outcome, especially mortality prediction. A close evaluation of critical SARS-CoV-2 patients and efficient early management are essential measures to decrease mortality. NLR could help in assessing the resource allocation in severe COVID-19 patients even in restricted settings.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Lymphocyte Count
/
COVID-19
/
Neutrophils
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
Expert Rev Mol Diagn
Journal subject:
Molecular Biology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
14737159.2021.1915773
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