Prognostic Utility of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio on Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Severe Calcific Aortic Stenosis

BackgroundInflammation is an important factor in the pathogenesis of calcific aortic stenosis (AS). We aimed to evaluate the association between an inflammatory marker, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with severe calcific AS.MethodsA total of 336 patients with isolated severe calcific AS newly diagnosed between 2010 and 2015 were enrolled in this study. Using Cox proportional hazards (PH) regression models, we investigated the prognostic value of NLR adjusted for baseline covariates including logistic European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation score (EuroSCORE-I) and undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR). We also evaluated the clinical relevance of NLR risk groups (divided into low, intermediate, high risk) as categorized by NLR cutoff values. MACE was defined as a composite of all-cause mortality, cardiac death and non-fatal myocardial infarction during the follow-up period.ResultsThe inflammatory marker NLR was an independent prognostic factor most significantly associated with MACE [hazard ratio (HR), 1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.04–1.09; p-value 9), respectively.ConclusionThe findings of the present study demonstrate the potential utility of NLR in risk stratification of patients with severe calcific AS.