Objective: The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and uric acid (UA) are inflammatory markers in cardiovascular disease. However, there are not enough data on infarct-related artery (IRA) patency in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We aimed to investigate the association of NLR, PLR, and UA with IRA patency before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in STEMI.
Methods: The study was designed as a retrospective study. Three hundred and twenty-four consecutive patients with STEMI were divided into two groups according to pre-PCI Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction flow grade (TIMI). Patients with a TIMI flow grade of into the spontaneous reperfusion (SR) group, while patients with TIMI flow grade of 0, 1 and 2 were placed into the non-SR group. The χ2 and independent-samples t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, multivariate logistic regression analysis, and receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used for the statistical analysis.
Results: PLR, NLR, and UA values in the SR group were lower than in the non-SR group (p<0.004, p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively). In the multivariate analysis, serum UA level and PLR were found to be independent predictors of pre-PCI IRA patency. In the ROC curve analysis, PLR >190, UA>5.75 mg/dL, and NLR>4.2 predicted non-SR. The sensitivity and specificity of the association between low IRA TIMI flow grade and PLR were 88% and 84%, 72% and 66% for UA, and 74% and 44% for NLR, respectively.
Conclusion: We determined that PLR and UA are novel predictors of IRA patency before PCI. We suggest that PLR and UA may be used in risk-stratifying STEMI.