Biplab Paul1 , Pranab Kumar Biswas2
BACKGROUND The present study was designed to determine the relationship between the white blood cell (WBC) count, clinical outcomes, severity of coronary artery lesion and angiographic characteristics in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS This is a single-center, cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care center in India, from March 2012 to February 2013, and included 103 ACS patients. All the patients were evaluated based on their medical history, physical and clinical examinations. Blood sample was received from each patient at admission and before discharge or after 7 days whichever was earlier to determine total WBC count. RESULTS The mean age of all the patients was 56.14 ± 11.04 years. A total of 82 (79.6%) patients presented with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and 21 (20.4%) patients presented with unstable angina / non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction. Significant increase in WBC count was observed in patients with ejection fraction ≤40%, congestive heart failure, shock, left anterior descending coronary artery lesions, active thrombus and in dead patients. CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study further strengthen the links between inflammation and cardiovascular disease and support the previous finding that WBC count is a strong independent predictor of short term mortality and morbidity in ACS patients. Thus, WBC count may become an additional parameter for the preliminary approach of ACS patients.
