Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of left ventricular apical thrombus in patients with myocardial infarction

Abstract

Background and Objectives: In this study, we examined the role of inflammatory parameters in an apical mural thrombus with a reduced ejection fraction due to large anterior myocardial infarction (MI). Subjects and Methods: A total of 103 patients who had suffered from heart failure, 45 of whom had left ventricular apical thrombus (AT) after a large anterior MI, were enrolled in the study. A detailed clinical history was taken of each participant, biochemical inflammatory markers, which were obtained during admission, were analyzed and an echocardiographical and angiographical evaluation of specific parameters were performed. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in terms of age, gender, and history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and atrial fibrillation between both groups (p>0.05). Similarly there were no statistically significant differences in terms of biochemical and echocardiographic parameters (p>0.05). However, there were significant differences in terms of neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (p=0.032). After a multivariate regression analysis, neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was an independent predictor of thrombus formation (ß: 0.296, p=0.024). The NLR >2.74 had a 78% sensivity and 61% specifity in predicting thrombus in patients with a low left ventricular ejection fraction. Conclusion: In this study, neutrophil lymphocyte ratios were significantly higher in patients with apical thrombus.