White blood cell count and mortality in acute myocardial infarction

Introduction: Coronary atherosclerosis is increasingly viewed as an inflammatory process. We assessed the relation between WBC count on admission and mortality in STEMI patients treated with primary PCI. Material & Method: Totally 205 patients with STEMI less than 24 hours before admission who admitted for primary angioplasty enrolled in study. Study end points were defined as myocardial adverse cardiac event (MACE) and mortality at one month and one year follow-up. Result: Totally 205 patients (166 men) with mean age 56 ± 11 were enrolled in study. The mean WBC count was 8983 ± 34 and mean follow-up was 12.24 months. WBC count remained a significant predictor of mortality after multivariable adjustment in one month and 12 months follow-up (p = 0.02, p = 0.04). Conclusion: Our results extend previous findings that WBC count is an independent marker of cardiac mortality.