Laboratory Medicine ›› 2021, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (3): 275-280.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-8640.2021.03.009

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Correlation between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and short-term poor prognosis in patients with corona virus disease 2019

WANG Bin   

  1. Department of Clinical Laboratory,Tongji Hospital,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology,Wuhan 430030,Hubei,China
  • Received:2020-04-21 Online:2021-03-30 Published:2021-03-30

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the predictive value of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio(NLR)on the short-term poor prognosis in patients with corona virus disease 2019(COVID-19). Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted in 302 patients with COVID-19 at Tongji Hospital,Tongji Medical College,Huazhong University of Science and Technology from January 28,2020 to February 20,2020. Totally,57 healthy subjects were enrolled as control group on January 7,2020. According to the clinical manifestations on admission,the patients were classified into non-severe group(218 cases) and severe group(84 cases). According to in-hospitalization prognosis,the patients were classified into survival group(269 cases) and non-survival group(33 cases). Clinical data and inflammatory indicators,including white blood cell(WBC) count,the absolute value of neutrophil count(NEUT#),the absolute value of lymphocyte count(LYMPH#),platelet(PLT) count,high-sensitivity C-reactive protein(hs-CRP),procalcitonin(PCT),were collected on admission. NLR and platelet/lymphocyte ratio(PLR)were calculated. Results There were statistical differences in terms of NEUT#,LYMPH#,PLT count,NLR and PLR between COVID-19 group and healthy control group(P<0.05). On admission in the severe group,male proportion,patient proportion of hypertension,age,WBC count,NEUT#,NLR,PLR,hs-CRP and PCT were higher than those in the non-severe group(P<0.05),while LYMPH# and PLT count were lower than those in the non-severe group(P<0.05). In the non-survival group,male proportion,age,WBC count,NEUT#,NLR,PLR,hs-CRP and PCT were higher than those in the survival group(P<0.05),while the in-hospital survival time,LYMPH# and PLT count were lower than those in the survival group(P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that male,age,NEUT# and NLR were independent risk factors for short-term prognosis in COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile,PLT count was the independent protective factor. The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis indicated the area under curve(AUC)of NLR was 0.819 [95% confidence interval(CI) 0.756-0.882,P<0.001). When the cut-off value was 6.18,the sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 79.63%,68.95%,35.88% and 93.96%,respectively. Conclusions NLR is closely related to the occurrence of short-term poor prognosis in patients with COVID-19 and is an independent predictor for in-hospital death.

Key words: Corona virus disease 2019, Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, Prognosis, Death

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