@article{3219159,
    title = "Inflammatory Biomarkers in Coronary Artery Ectasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis",
    author = "Vrachatis, D.A. and Papathanasiou, K.A. and Kazantzis, D. and Sanz-Sánchez, J. and Giotaki, S.G. and Raisakis, K. and Kaoukis, A. and Kossyvakis, C. and Deftereos, G. and Reimers, B. and Avramides, D. and Siasos, G. and Cleman, M. and Giannopoulos, G. and Lansky, A. and Deftereos, S.",
    journal = "DIAGNOSTIC ONCOLOGY",
    year = "2022",
    volume = "12",
    number = "5",
    publisher = "MDPI",
    doi = "10.3390/diagnostics12051026",
    abstract = "Isolated coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is a relatively rare clinical entity, the pathogenesis of which is poorly understood. More and more evidence is accumulating to suggest a critical inflammatory component. We aimed to elucidate any association between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and coronary artery ectasia. A systematic MEDLINE database, ClinicalTrials.gov, medRxiv, Scopus and Cochrane Library search was conducted: 50 studies were deemed relevant, reporting on difference in NLR levels between CAE patients and controls (primary endpoint) and/or on high-sensitive CRP, IL-6, TNF-a and RDW levels (secondary endpoint), and were included in our final analysis. (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021224195). All inflammatory biomarkers under investigation were found higher in coronary artery ectasia patients as compared to healthy controls (NLR; SMD = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.27–1.20, hs-CRP; SMD = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.64–1.28, IL-6; SMD = 2.68; 95% CI: 0.95–4.41, TNF-a; SMD = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.24–0.75, RDW; SMD = 0.56; 95% CI: 0.26–0.87). The main limitations inherent in this analysis are small case-control studies of moderate quality and high statistical heterogeneity. Our findings underscore that inflammatory dysregulation is implicated in coronary artery ectasia and merits further investigation. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland."
}