TY - JOUR AU - Henry, Brandon AU - Cheruiyot, Isaac AU - Vikse, Jens AU - Mutua, Victor AU - Kipkorir, Vincent AU - Benoit, Justin AU - Plebani, Mario AU - Bragazzi, Nicola AU - Lippi, Giuseppe TI - Lymphopenia and neutrophilia at admission predicts severity and mortality in patients with COVID-19: a meta-analysis PY - %2020/%09/%07 Y2 - %2026/%08/%27 JF - Acta Biomedica Atenei Parmensis JA - Acta Biomed VL - 91 IS - 3 SE - ORIGINAL INVESTIGATIONS/COMMENTARIES - SPECIAL COVID19 DO - 10.23750/abm.v91i3.10217 UR - https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v91i3.10217 SP - e2020008 AB - Background: There is a compelling need to identify clinical and laboratory predictors of unfavorable clinical course and death in patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A trend towards low lymphocyte count and high neutrophil counts in patients with poor outcomes has been reported by earlier studies. We aim to synthesize existing data evaluating the relationship between clinical outcomes and abnormal neutrophil and lymphocyte counts at admission in COVID-19 patients. Methods: An electronic search was carried out in PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) to identify eligible studies reporting frequency data on neutrophilia and lymphopenia at admission in hospitalization in COVID-19 patients. Pooled odds ratios of clinical outcomes for each parameter were calculated using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis. Results: A total of 22 studies (4,969 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. Lymphopenia at admission was found to be significantly associated with increased odd of progression to severe disease (odds ratio [OR], 4.20; 95% confidence interval [95CI%], 3.46-5.09) and death (OR, 3.71; 95%CI, 1.63-8.44). Neutrophilia at admission was also found to be significantly associated with increased odd of progression to severe disease (OR, 7.99; 95%CI, 1.77-36.14) and death (OR, 7.87; 95%CI, 1.75-35.35). Subgroup analysis revealed that COVID-19 patients with severe lymphopenia (