Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio and heart type fatty acid binding protein as a prognostic marker in Myocardial infarction within 48 h of admission

TL;DR

This study explores how the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and heart-type fatty acid binding protein can predict outcomes in heart attack patients within 48 hours of admission.

Contribution

The study introduces the potential of NLR and H-FABP as early prognostic markers for myocardial infarction.

Findings

NLR at admission and 48 hours correlated significantly with patient outcomes (p = 0.01).

H-FABP was positive in all 97 patients, while Troponin-I was positive in only 56.7%.

NLR showed a strong correlation with left ventricular dysfunction (p = 0.01).

Abstract

The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a measure of systemic inflammation, whereas Heart type fatty acid protein (HFABP) is a cytosolic protein released early after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The aim of this research study is to determine whether NLR and H-FAB are useful in predicting the prognosis in patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) 48 h after admission. This is a prospective observational study conducted on 97 patients who had been admitted to emergency room with ST-elevation myocardial infarction in their ECG in a tertiary care centre of south India. The neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio was measured at the time of admission, 24th hour and 48th hour, and then compared with the outcome. To determine their significance in the MI episode, troponin-I and H-FABP were also measured.

A significant correlation was found in the final outcomes of patients and the NLR at the time of admission and at 48 h (p = 0.01). Additionally, a substantial correlation between NLR and various degrees of LV dysfunction was also observed (p = 0.01). H-FABP was found to be positive in all 97 of the patients examined, whereas Troponin-I was only found to be positive in 56.7%.

The study's findings, indicated strong correlations between NLR and LVEF, indicated that NLR might serve as an early predictor of cardiac events which could be either poor prognosis or higher mortality. This research found that H-FABP may serve as an early MI diagnostic marker.

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