%0 Journal Article
%T Comparison of Lymphocyte-CRP Ratio to Conventional Inflammatory Markers for Predicting Clinical Outcomes in COVID-19.
%A Liu A
%A Hammond R
%A Chan K
%A Chukwuenweniwe C
%A Johnson R
%A Khair D
%A Duck E
%A Olubodun O
%A Barwick K
%A Banya W
%A Stirrup J
%A Donnelly PD
%A Kaski JC
%A Coates ARM
%J J Pers Med
%V 13
%N 6
%D 2023 May 29
%M 37373898
%F 3.508
%R 10.3390/jpm13060909
%X Background: In COVID-19 patients, lymphocyte-CRP ratio (LCR) is a promising biomarker for predicting adverse clinical outcomes. How well LCR performs compared to conventional inflammatory markers for prognosticating COVID-19 patients remains unclear, which hinders the clinical translation of this novel biomarker. Methods: In a cohort of COVID-19 inpatients, we characterised the clinical applicability of LCR by comparing its prognostic value against conventional inflammatory markers for predicting inpatient mortality and a composite of mortality, invasive/non-invasive ventilation and intensive care unit admissions. Results: Of the 413 COVID-19 patients, 100 (24%) patients suffered inpatient mortality. On Receiver Operating Characteristics analysis, LCR performed similarly to CRP for predicting mortality (AUC 0.74 vs. 0.71, p = 0.049) and the composite endpoint (AUC 0.76 vs. 0.76, p = 0.812). LCR outperformed lymphocyte counts (AUC 0.74 vs. 0.66, p = 0.002), platelet counts (AUC 0.74 vs. 0.61, p = 0.003) and white cell counts (AUC 0.74 vs. 0.54, p < 0.001) for predicting mortality. On Kaplan-Meier analysis, patients with a low LCR (below a 58 cut-off) had worse inpatient survival than patients with other LCR values (p < 0.001). Conclusion: LCR appears comparable to CRP, but outperformed other inflammatory markers, for prognosticating COVID-19 patients. Further studies are required to improve the diagnostic value of LCR to facilitate clinical translation.