Hematologic Parameters as Predictors of Long-Term Mortality in Infective Endocarditis Patients

BACKGROUND Infective endocarditis (IE) is an endothelial infection that is associated with high mortality and morbidity rates. Early and accurate risk prediction is important in patients with IE. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), which is one of the hematological parameters that can be performed anywhere and is easily accessible, is a predictor of poor prognosis in many infectious and cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the association between laboratory parameters and 3-year mortality in 155 patients with infective endocarditis at a single center in Turkey. MATERIAL AND METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and echocardiographic data of 155 adult patients with definite IE according to the modified Duke Criteria, and we analyzed all laboratory results, such as hemoglobin, white blood cell, neutrophil, lymphocyte, platelet, platelet distribution width, NLR, urea, creatinine, albumin, procalcitonin, and blood culture results. RESULTS The median follow-up time was 341 days (range, 2-4003 days). The out-of-hospital mortality rate was 31.6%. Among the discharged patients (n=106), there were 46 non-survivors, with an out-of- hospital mortality rate of 43.4%. The overall mortality rate was 61.3%. During the follow-up, the 1-year mortality rate was 47.1% and the 3-year mortality rate was 54.8%. We detected significant differences in the admission values of NLR between the patients with and without 3-year mortality (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS The NLR on admission to a tertiary center was independently associated with 3-year mortality in IE patients (P<0.001). NLR is a parameter that can be obtained from a simple, widely available and inexpensive hemagroma as a useful marker in predicting long-term mortality in IE.