Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) prognostic effects on heart failure; a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), as a recent inflammatory index, has been reported to be a prognostic tool in different diseases. However, implication of this ratio in heart failure (HF) is less investigated. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to assess the potential impact of NLR on HF clinical outcomes. METHODS: Relevant English published records in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science were screened up to July 2023. Articles reporting clinical outcomes (follow-up or in-hospital mortality, readmission, HF prediction, extended hospital stay length, pulmonary vascular resistance, atrial fibrillation, renal disease and functional capacity) in HF sufferers were collected for further analysis with addition of NLR difference stratified by death/survived and HF status. RESULTS: Thirty-six articles (n = 18231) were finally selected which reported NLR in HF sufferers (mean: 4.38, 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.02–4.73). We found 25 articles reported NLR and total mortality (either follow-up death (N = 19): 4.52 (95% CI: 4.03–5.01) or in-hospital death (N = 10): 5.33 (95% CI: 4.08–6.57)) with mean NLR of 4.74 (95% CI: 4.28–5.20). NLR was higher among deceased patients compared to survived ones (standard mean difference: 0.67 (95% CI: 0.48–0.87), P < 0.001)). NLR was found to be related with higher mortality risk (continuous variable: hazard ratio (HR): 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02–1.23, P = 0.013), categorical variable: HR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.27–2.46, P = 0.001, T2 vs. T1: HR:1.56, 95%CI: 1.21–2.00, P = 0.001, T3 vs. T1: HR:2.49, 95%CI: 1.85–3.35, P < 0.001). Other aforementioned variables were not feasible to analyze due to presence of few studies. CONCLUSIONS: NLR is a simple and acceptable prognostic tool for risk stratification and prioritizing high risk patients in clinical settings, especially in resource limited nations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-023-03572-6.