Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio as a biomarker for predicting the intravenous immunoglobulin-resistant Kawasaki disease

BACKGROUND: In recent years, many studies focused on the association between the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the risk of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)-resistant Kawasaki disease (rKD), with inconsistent results. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of NLR as a biomarker in detecting rKD. METHODS: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure through May 18th, 2019. Meta-disc 1.4 and STATA 15.1 were used to perform this metaanalysis in a fixed/random-effect model. RESULTS: A total of 7 relevant studies were eligible to analyze pooled accuracy. The overall performance of NLR detection was: pooled sensitivity, 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.63 – 0.70); pooled specificity, 0.71 (95%CI, 0.69 – 0.73); and area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves value (SROC), 0.7956. The meta-regression analysis showed that the type of samples was the sources of heterogeneity. The subgroup analysis suggested that NLR detection after the initial treatment of IVIG had the largest area under curve of SROC in all the subgroups: pooled sensitivity, 0.58 (95%CI, 0.53 – 0.63); pooled specificity, 0.77 (95%CI, 0.75 – 0.79); and SROC, 0.8440. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first meta-analysis demonstrated that NLR might be a biomarker for detecting rKD, especially NLR value after the initial treatment of IVIG. More well-designed researches need to be done to launch the application of NLR for predicting rKD in the clinic.