Coronary artery disease
Association Among Leukocyte Count, Mortality, and Bleeding in Patients With Non–ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes (from the Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage StrategY [ACUITY] Trial)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2012.12.056Get rights and content

Although inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes, the extent of inflammation is not routinely assessed, and its prognostic implications in patients with non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome have not been investigated in depth. We analyzed the prognostic implications of an elevated white blood cell count (WBCc) in patients with moderate and high-risk non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome undergoing an early invasive strategy in the large-scale Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage StrategY trial. The WBCc at admission was available for 13,678 of 13,819 patients (98.9%). The patients in the upper tertile of the WBCc had an increased risk of 30-day major bleeding, 1-year mortality, and definite/probable stent thrombosis compared to those in the mid or lower tertiles. On multivariate analysis, the WBCc was an independent predictor of 30-day major bleeding and 1-year cardiac, noncardiac, and all-cause mortality. The association between the WBCc and cardiac mortality was present in multiple prespecified subgroups, with no significant interaction between the WBCc and age, gender, diabetes, smoking, renal dysfunction, elevated baseline biomarkers, antithrombotic therapy, revascularization, and Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction risk score. The WBCc remained an independent predictor of mortality after adjusting for bleeding, C-reactive protein level, and angiographic variables, including left ventricular ejection fraction, Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction flow, and number of diseased vessels. The WBCc significantly improved the prognostic accuracy of the Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction risk score, with a net reclassification improvement of 11% (p <0.0001). In conclusion, in patients with moderate- and high-risk non–ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome, an elevated admission WBCc was an independent predictor of 30-day major bleeding, and 1-year cardiac, noncardiac, and all-cause mortality.

Section snippets

Methods

The ACUITY trial design has been previously reported in detail.7 In brief, the ACUITY trial was a multicenter, prospective randomized trial of patients with moderate- and high-risk NSTE-ACS who were treated with an early invasive strategy. Patients were randomly assigned before coronary angiography to heparin (unfractionated or low-molecular-weight) plus a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor, bivalirudin plus a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor, or bivalirudin monotherapy with provisional

Results

Of the 13,819 patients enrolled in the ACUITY trial, 13,678 (98.9%) had a baseline WBCc available and represented the present study cohort. The clinical characteristics of the patients stratified by WBCc tertiles are listed in Table 1. The patients in the greater WBCc tertile were younger and were more likely to be smokers and to have elevated cardiac biomarkers or ST-segment deviation ≥1 mm but were less likely to have had previous MI, percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary artery

Discussion

The major findings of the present study were, first, that the baseline WBCc measured at hospital presentation in patients with NSTE-ACS was an independent predictor of 30-day major bleeding and 1-year all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and noncardiac mortality. Second, an increased baseline WBCc was associated with greater mortality and cardiac mortality both within the first 30 days and from 30 days to 1 year. Third, the relation between the WBCc and both mortality and cardiac mortality

Disclosures

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

References (26)

  • R. Ross

    Atherosclerosis—an inflammatory disease

    N Engl J Med

    (1999)
  • M.S. Rangel-Frausto et al.

    The natural history of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS): a prospective study

    JAMA

    (1995)
  • C. Mueller et al.

    White blood cell count and long term mortality after non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome treated with very early revascularisation

    Heart

    (2003)
  • Cited by (13)

    • VWF, CXCL8 and IL6 might be potential druggable genes for acute coronary syndrome (ACS)

      2019, Computational Biology and Chemistry
      Citation Excerpt :

      As we known, the leukocyte count is a surrogate marker of inflammation (Kaartinen et al., 1998). Palmerini et al have demonstrated that the leukocyte count is an attractive marker for potential risk stratification of patients with NSTE-ACS because of its low cost and routine assessment at hospital admission (Palmerini et al., 2013). Meanwhile, Furman et al also indicate that platelet activation and markers of leukocyte have been associated with coronary artery disease and ACS (Furman et al., 2004).

    • Prognostic significance of mean platelet volume in diabetic patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction

      2014, Journal of Diabetes and its Complications
      Citation Excerpt :

      These patients are particularly at risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. The association between erythrocyte count, leukocyte count and STEMI has been extensively studied (Lopes et al., 2012; Palmerini et al., 2011; Palmerini et al., 2013; Willis & Voeltz, 2009). The experimental data support the central role of platelets.

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    The ACUITY trial was funded by The Medicines Company, (Parsippany, New Jersey), and Nycomed (Roskilde, Denmark).

    See page 1244 for disclosure information.

    View full text