White blood cell subtypes as predictors of adverse cardiac events.

BACKGROUND

White blood cell (WBC) subtypes have been associated with major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI). More recently, combining neutrophil and lymphocyte counts or lymphocyte and monocyte counts into a ratio has found to be promising for predicting MACE. This study aimed to confirm the association between MACE and the following WBC subtypes: neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR).

METHODS

In a cohort of 860 AMI patients, we collected levels of WBC subtypes from the earliest blood tests recorded prior to angiography. Data on baseline demographics and one-year outcomes were also collected.

RESULTS

At one year, 130 patients (15.1%) developed MACE. NLR and LMR were significantly associated with MACE on univariate analysis (P = 0.006 and 0.005, respectively). However, when combined into a multivariate model with age, hypertension, prior myocardial infarction and Type 2 diabetes, neither NLR nor LMR had significant associations (odds ratio = 1.058 and 0.966, P = 0.069 and 0.612, respectively).

CONCLUSION

As NLR and LMR were correlated with MACE only on univariate analysis, we do not believe that they are predictive enough to be used alone in a clinical setting. Further studies are required to assess the prognostic ability of these ratios in combination with other inflammatory markers.