Association between admission white blood cell count and one-year mortality in patients with acute coronary syndromes

Abstract

Recent studies have established that inflammation is important in mediating the development, progression, and acute thrombotic complications of atherosclerosis (1,2). Elevated baseline markers of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein, have been associated with adverse prognosis in patients who present with acute coronary syndromes (3–5). Elevations in white blood cell count have also been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, as well as higher mortality and increased recurrent ischemic events after acute myocardial infarction (6 –9), and thus may be a surrogate marker of inflammation. Few studies, however, have addressed whether admission white blood cell count can aid in the long-term risk stratification of patients receiving glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors who present with unstable angina or non-STsegment elevation myocardial infarction. We sought to determine whether admission white blood cell count would be able to predict all-cause mortality at 1 year in patients from the Platelet IIb/IIIa Antagonism for the Reduction of Acute coronary syndrome events in the Global Organization Network (PARAGON) A study.