Addition of routine blood biomarkers to TIMI risk score improves predictive performance of 1-year mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

Enhanced predictive performance of the GRACE risk score by incorporating lipoprotein(a) for major adverse cardiac events in acute myocardial infarction patients undergoing PCI

Background

As scientific research advances, the landscape of detection indicators and methodologies evolves continuously. Our current study aimed to identify some novel perioperative indicators that can enhance the predictive accuracy of the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE) score for the in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Methods

A total of 647 adult patients with AMI admitted to the emergency department were consecutively enrolled in the retrospective research starting from June 2016 to September 2019. The endpoint was in-hospital MACE. Stepwise regression analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed to select the indicators for the union model established by nomogram. Bootstrap with 1000 replicates was chosen as the internal validation of the union model. The area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) and calibration plot were used to evaluate the discrimination and calibration. Decision curve analysis (DCA) was performed to evaluate the clinical sufficiency of the nomogram. Akaike's information criterion (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) were used to evaluate the goodness of fit.

Results

Lipoprotein(a) combined with serum uric acid, fasting blood glucose, and hemoglobin could improve the GRACE risk score. The AUC of the union model was 0.86, which indicated a better discriminative ability than the GRACE risk score alone (AUC, 0.81; P < 0.05). The calibration plots of the union model showed favorable consistency between the prediction of the model and actual observations, which was better than the GRACE risk score. DCA plots suggested that the union model had better clinical applicability than the GRACE risk score.

Conclusion

Lipoprotein(a) has shown promise in augmenting the predictive capability of the GRACE risk score, however, it may be beneficial to integrate it with other commonly used indicators.

Effect of Elevated Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio on Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Myocardial Infarction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Myocardial infarction (MI), a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, is characterized by an underlying inflammatory process driven by atherosclerosis. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a readily available and cost-effective marker of systemic inflammation, has emerged as a potential predictor of adverse outcomes in patients with MI. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between elevated NLR and the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality in patients with MI. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across multiple databases, including Embase, Web of Science, PubMed, and OVID Medicine, to identify relevant studies published from January 1, 2011, onward. Studies reporting the effect of NLR values on MACE and mortality in adult patients with MI, including both ST-elevation (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation (NSTEMI) subtypes, were included. Data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by multiple authors. The meta-analysis included 37 studies, comprising a total of 18 studies evaluating the risk of MACE and 30 studies assessing all-cause mortality. The pooled analysis revealed a significantly increased risk of MACE (odds ratio [OR] 1.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.53-2.28, P < 0.01) and all-cause mortality (OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.94-2.70, P < 0.01) in patients with elevated NLR compared to those without elevated NLR. Subgroup analyses stratified by follow-up duration and study design further supported the consistent association between elevated NLR and adverse outcomes. In conclusion, this meta-analysis demonstrates a significant association between elevated NLR and an increased risk of MACE and all-cause mortality in patients with MI. These findings highlight the potential clinical utility of NLR as a prognostic marker and underscore the importance of further research to validate its predictive value and establish optimal cutoff values for risk stratification in this patient population.

A New Risk Score for Patients With Acute Chest Pain and Normal High Sensitivity Troponin

Objective: To investigate a new risk score for patients who suffered from acute chest pain with normal high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-TnI) levels.

Methods: In this study, patients with acute chest pain who were admitted to the emergency department (ED) of our hospital had been recruited. Hs-TnI was measured in serum samples drawn on admission to the ED. The end point was the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) within 3 months. Predictor variables were selected by logistic regression analysis, and external validity was assessed in this study. Furthermore, validation was performed in an independent cohort, i.e., 352 patients (validation cohort).

Results: A total of 724 patients were included in the derivation cohort. The results showed that four predictor variables were significant in the regression analysis—male, a history of chest pain, 60 years of age or older and with three or more coronary artery disease (CAD) risk factors. A total of 105 patients in the validation cohort had serious adverse cardiac events. The validation cohort showed a homogenous pattern with the derivation cohort when patients were stratified by score. The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) in the derivation cohort was 0.80 (95% CI: 0.76–0.83), while in the validation cohort, it was 0.79 (95% CI: 0.75–0.82).

Conclusion: A new risk score was developed for acute chest pain patients without known CAD and ST-segment deviation and with normal hs-TnI and may aid MACE risk assessment and patient triage in the ED.

Prognostic Value of Baseline Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Combined With Anemia in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A Nationwide Prospective Cohort Study

Objective

Data pertaining to the prognostic value of the combination of high neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and anemia on admission in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) are limited. The objective of this study was to investigate the clinical value of baseline NLR in combination with anemia in predicting clinical outcomes after STEMI.

Methods

A total of 5,194 consecutive patients with STEMI within 12 hours of symptom onset from the Korea Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry-National Institute of Health database between 2011 and 2015 were categorized into 4 groups according to their NLR and hemoglobin levels: low NLR (<4) without anemia (n=2,722; reference group); high NLR (≥4) without anemia (n=1,527); low NLR with anemia (n=508); and high NLR with anemia (n=437). The co-primary outcomes were 180-day and 3-year all-cause mortality.

Results

Mortality rates significantly increased at the 3-year follow-up across the groups (3.3% vs. 5.4% vs. 16.5% vs. 21.7% for 180-day mortality and 5.3% vs. 9.0% vs. 23.8% vs. 33.4% for 3-year mortality; all p-trends <0.001). After adjusting for baseline covariates, the combination of high NLR and anemia was a significant predictor of 180-day mortality after STEMI with low NLR and no anemia as the reference (adjusted hazard ratio, 2.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.58–2.95; p<0.001). Similar findings were observed for the 3-year mortality.

Conclusions

This nationwide prospective cohort study showed that the combination of high NLR (≥4) and anemia is a strong predictor of all-cause mortality after STEMI.

Magnitude of ST-segment Elevation Is Associated with Increased Acute Inflammatory Response and Myocardial Scar in Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction Undergoing pPCI

Background: The integrated ST segment elevation score (ISSTE) score objectively quantifies the ECG changes before and after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) for ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The inflammatory response is a major component in scar formation and remodeling process of the myocardial tissue following myocardial infarction (MI). Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) precisely quantifies the cardiac function and assesses the pattern of the myocardial scar tissue. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relations between the ISSTE score and: (1) acute inflammatory biomarkers and (2) extent of the myocardial scar determined by CMR in STEMI treated with pPCI. Material and methods: One hundred thirty STEMI patients were included in the study, who underwent pPCI in the first 12 hours from symptom debut. ISSTE-1 was calculated at presentation and 2 hours following pPCI (ISSTE-2). Inflammatory biomarkers were determined at admission and day 5, followed by LGE-CMR at 4 weeks, with quantification of cardiac function and extent of infarct size (IS) and transmurality. Patients were divided in low and high ISSTE groups based on the median values. Results: No significant differences were noted in terms of CMR parameters or inflammatory biomarkers and between the groups with low or high ISSTE-1. Significantly higher levels of day-5 hs-CRP (p = 0.03) and day-1 IL-6 (p = 0.02), MMP-9 (p = 0.05) were recorded in high ISSTE-2 groups. LV IS mass (23.11 ± 5.31 vs. 57.94 ± 8.33, p = 0.001), percentage (13.55 ± 6.22 vs. 27.15 ± 7.12, p = 0.001) and transmurality (p = 0.001) was significantly higher in ISSTE-2 group. ISSTE-2 significantly correlated with LV IS mass (r = 0.391, p <0.0001), percentage (r = 0.541, p <0.0001) high transmurality (r = 0.449, p <0.0001) and LV EF (r = -0.397, p <0.0001). Conclusions: A high ISSTE-2 score is associated with increased inflammatory response exhibited by elevated serum IL-6 and MMP-9 levels determined on the day of admission, and with persistently increased serum hs-CRP levels on day 5 of the acute event. A higher ISSTE-2 score is associated with larger myocardial scar extent expressed by IS, higher transmurality and reduced LV EF at 1-month LGE CMR follow-up.

Diagnostic accuracy of red blood cell distribution width to platelet ratio for predicting liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B: A meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to systematically review the performance of red blood cell distribution width to platelet ratio (RPR) in the diagnosis of significant or advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis associated with Hepatitis B virus (HBV).

METHODS

The relevant studies were comprehensively searched in English databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, as well as Chinese databases such as China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data from the inception to March 2021. Accuracy of RPR in diagnosing significant or advanced fibrosis and liver cirrhosis was assessed by area under the curve (AUC), pooled sensitivity and specificity, as well as positive and negative likelihood ratios. Stata 15.0 software was applied to analyze the data.

RESULTS

In total, 13 literature met the requirements, including patients with significant fibrosis (n=1890), advanced fibrosis (n=645), and cirrhosis (n=499). The prevalence rates of significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis were 49.31% (range: 17.25%-84.21%), 37.07% (range: 9.60%-58.20%) and 2.18% (range: 2.78%-44.19%), respectively. The AUCs for predicting significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis, and cirrhosis by RPR were 0.73 (95%CI: 0.69-0.76),0.80 (95%CI: 0.77-0.84) and 0.80 (95%CI: 0.76-0.83), respectively.

CONCLUSION

RPR is of some diagnostic value to the prediction of HBV-related significant fibrosis, advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis.This conclusion is urgently needed to be verified by further multi-center studies of large sample size and rigorous design.

Basic types of the first-day glycemia in acute myocardial infarction: Prognostic, diagnostic, threshold and target glycemia

We described the importance of stress hyperglycemia (SH) in critical illnesses and their evaluation in the emergency department (ED) and coronary care unit (CCU). Hyperglycemia is found in over half of the patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI). SH can be used for several purposes in AMI. Receiver operating characteristic curves are needed to find optimal cut-offs to divide blood glucose levels associated with good from bad prognosis in AMI. There is a need for a consensus for pragmatic classification of first day glycemia in order to be useful in a busy ED and CCU.

Predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and red cell distribution width on death for ST segment elevation myocardial infarction

There are many clinical scoring criteria for predicting the risk of death in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), but most of the indicators are complex to calculate and are not suitable for use in primary hospitals. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and red cell distribution width (RDW) are blood routine indicators that are easy to obtain and may help primary hospitals to evaluate the risk of death in patients with STEMI. Our aim was to explore the predictive value of NLR combined with RDW in the long-term prognosis of patients with STEMI after emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A total of 181 patients with STEMI who underwent emergency PCI in the Affiliated Hospital of Pu-tian University from January 2017 to August 2018 were selected. Clinical profile, prognosis of all patients were collected. P value < 0.05 was considered significant. In all patients, cardiovascular death during the follow-up period was defined as cardiovascular death group, and surviving during the follow-up period was defined as survival group. There were no significant differences in demography and comorbidities between the two groups. The differences between the two groups in NLR, RDW, C-reactive protein, N-terminal-pro B type natriuretic peptide were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that NLR (OR = 1.122, 95% CI 1.041 ~ 1.210, P = 0.003) and RDW (OR = 1.288, 95% CI 1.126 ~ 1.472, P = 0.0005) were important predictors of mortality in patients with STEMI (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that as the NLR increased, the risk of death increased (P < 0.001). In conclusion, NLR and RDW are independent predictors of cardiovascular death in patients with STEMI, and they have a certain predictive value.

Association between anemia and mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome treated with percutaneous coronary intervention and contemporary lipid-lowering therapy

Despite a clear correlation between anemia and mortality in patients with the acute coronary syndrome (ACS), anemia as a mortality predictor in patients with ACS-receiving early invasive strategy and contemporary lipid-lowering therapy has not been examined. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the association between anemia and mortality in ACS patients treated with acute revascularization and contemporary lipid-lowering treatment. This was a post-hoc study of the Heart Institute of Japan-Proper level of Lipid-Lowering with Pitavastatin and Ezetimibe in acute coronary syndrome study, in which ACS patients with dyslipidemia were randomized to receive either pitavastatin and ezetimibe or pitavastatin monotherapy. The success rate of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was 95.2%. Eligible patients were divided into two groups: patients with anemia (anemia group) or without anemia (non-anemia group). Anemia was defined using the World Health Organization definition hemoglobin < 12 g/dL for women and < 13 g/dL for men. We compared the mortality between the two groups using propensity scores derived from 17 baseline variables. We identified 1721 eligible patients, including 420 (24.4%) in the anemia group and 1301 (75.6%) in the non-anemia group. One-to-one propensity score-matching created 381 pairs. Both unmatched and matched analyses found significantly high mortality in the anemia group compared to the non-anemia group (unmatched 12.3% vs. 3.8%, log-rank p < 0.01; matched 11.5% vs. 6.3%, log-rank p = 0.01). In ACS patients treated with an early invasive strategy era with a high PCI success rate and concurrent contemporary lipid-lowering management, all-cause mortality was still significantly higher in anemic patients than in non-anemic patients.Trial registration: Clinical trial registration URL: http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr . Unique identifier: UMIN00000274.