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The cardiovascular mortality risk is greatly increased in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially in dialysis patients, due to atherosclerosis. Platelet activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) is an enzyme that hydrolyzes platelet activating factor (PAF). Valvular calcifications and PAF-AH are associated with atherosclerosis. However, little is known about the status of PAF-AH activity and valvular calcification in dialysis patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the status of these parameters in CKD patients.

Objective: Spontaneous echo contrast (SEC) is the appearance of swirling, smoke-like echoes in the left atrium (LA) and is accepted as an independent predictor of thromboembolic risk. There is an established relationship between the inflammatory state and the prothrombotic state. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between the Systemic Immune Inflammation Index (SII), a new inflammation parameter introduced recently, and SEC in patients with mitral stenosis (MS)., Material and Methods: A total of 262 patients who underwent percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty (PMBV) for MS were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups: patients with MS complicated by SEC and patients with MS without SEC, based on whether SEC occurred in the LA., Results: There were 79 patients (mean age 47.1 ± 6.6, 30.3% male gender) in the SEC (+) group, while there were 183 patients (mean age 46.4 ± 8.6, 29.5% male gender) in the SEC (-) group. In multivariate analysis, high levels of SII were an independent risk factor for SEC in patients with MS (OR: 1.001, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.000-1.001, p<0.001) together with high levels of C-reactive protein (OR: 1.145, 95% CI: 1.027-1.277, p=0.014). The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis showed that at a cutoff value of 547.6 for SII to predict SEC with 74.6% sensitivity and 77.6% specificity (area under ROC curve=0.736 (95% CI: 0.668-0.805), p<0.001)., Conclusion: Our study showed that the SII levels were independently associated with SEC in patients with MS., (Copyright © 2022 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Aim: Recently, a new inflammatory and prognostic marker has emerged called as Systemic Immune Inflammation Index (SII). In the current study, we searched the relation between SII and Coronary Collateral Circulation (CCC) formation in stable Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)., Materials & Methods: 449 patients with stable CAD who underwent coronary angiography and documented coronary stenosis of 95% or more in at least one major coronary vessel were included in the study. The study patients were divided into two groups according to the Rentrop score as well CCC (Rentrop 2-3) and bad CCC (Rentrop 0-1). Blood samples for SII and other laboratory parameters were gathered from all the patients on admission. The SII score was formulized as platelet × neutrophil/lymphocyte counts., Results: Patients, who had developed bad CCC had a higher C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelets/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and SII levels compared to those who had developed well CCC (p < 0.001, for all). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that high levels of SII was an independent predictor of bad CCC (OR: 1.005, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.003-1.006, p < 0.001) together with dyslipidemia, high levels of CRP and NLR. In Receiver Operator Characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, the optimal cutoff value of SII to predict poor CCC was found to be 729.8, with 78.4% sensitivity and 74.6% specificity (area under ROC curve = 0.833 (95% CI: 0.777-0.889, p < 0.001)., Conclusion: We have demonstrated that SII, a novel cardiovascular risk marker, might be used as one of the independent predictors of CCC development.

We investigated whether the systemic immune inflammation index (SII) on admission is an independent risk factor that predicts the development of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients with non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). A total of 429 patients with NSTEMI were enrolled in the study. Contrast-induced nephropathy was defined as an increase in serum creatinine level of ≥0.5 mg/dL or ≥25% above baseline within 72 hour after the procedure. Patients were divided into 2 groups: with and without CIN. Demographics, clinical risk factors, angiographic and laboratory parameters, CIN incidence, and SII score were compared between the 2 groups. Non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction patients, who developed CIN, had higher glucose levels ( P = .009), neutrophil counts ( P < .001), platelet counts ( P < .001), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratios ( P < .001), high sensitivity C-reactive protein levels ( P = .009), and SII levels ( P < .001) than those who did not develop CIN. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that at a cutoff of 933.2, the value of SII exhibited 77.6% sensitivity and 69.2% specificity for detecting CIN. Our study showed that the SII levels on admission were independently associated with CIN development after PCI in patients with NSTEMI.

We investigated the relationship between the C-reactive protein (CRP) to albumin ratio (CAR) and coronary collateral circulation (CCC) in stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients with stable CAD (n = 354) who underwent coronary angiography for suspected CAD and had a total occlusion ≥1 major coronary artery were included in the study. The participants were divided into 2 groups according to the Rentrop score as satisfactory CCC (Rentrop 2-3) and poor CCC (Rentrop 0-1). Patients who had poor CCC had a higher CRP, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and CAR levels compared with those who had satisfactory CCC ( P < .001, P = .046, P < .001, respectively). The CAR (odds ratio: 3.522, 95% CI: 2.515-4.932, P < .001), CRP, NLR, and diabetes mellitus were independent predictors of poor CCC. In receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, the optimal cutoff value of CAR to predict poor CCC was 1.27 (area under ROC curve = 0.735 [95% CI: 0.667-0.803], P < .001). A raised CAR may be an independent predictor of poor CCC.

Aim: To investigate whether C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) has an association with new onset atrial fibrillation (NOAF) in SARS-CoV-2. Materials & methods: This study included 782 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, who were hospitalized in Turkey. The end point of the study was an occurrence of NOAF. Results: NOAF was identified in 41 patients (5.2%). Subjects who developed NOAF had a higher CAR compared with those who did not develop NOAF (p < 0.001). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis the CAR (odds ratio = 2.879; 95% CI: 1.063-7.793; p = 0.037) was an independent predictor of NOAF. Conclusion:  A high level of CAR in blood samples is associated with an increased risk of developing NOAF in SARS-CoV-2.

Background: There is limited data concerning the prevalence of arrhythmias, particularly atrial fibrillation (AF), which may develop as a consequence of direct myocardial injury and the inflammatory state existing in COVID-19., Methods: This single-center study included data concerning 658 COVID-19 patients, who were hospitalized in our institute, between April 20th, 2020 and July 30th, 2020. Demographic data, findings of the imaging studies, and laboratory test results were retrieved from the institutional digital database., Results: New onset AF (NOAF) was identified in 33 patients (5%). Patients who developed AF were older (72.42 ± 6.10 vs 53.78 ± 13.80, p < 0.001) and had higher frequencies of hypertension and heart failure compared to patients without NOAF (p < 0.001, for both). The CHA2DS2-VASc score was higher in patients, who developed NOAF, compared to those who did not during hospitalization for COVID-19 (p < 0.001). Subjects, who developed NOAF during hospitalization, had a higher leukocyte count, neutrophil / lymphocyte ratio (NLR), C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and procalcitonin levels compared to those without NOAF (p < 0.001 for all comparisons). Diffuse lung infiltration was also more frequent in COVID-19 patients, who developed NOAF, during hospitalization (p = 0.015). Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age, CHA2DS2-VASc score, CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and presence of diffuse lung infiltration on thorax CT were predictive for NOAF., Conclusion: The prevalence of NOAF in hospitalized COVID-19 patients is higher than the general population. Age, CHA2DS2-VASc score, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and presence of diffuse lung infiltration on thorax CT may be used to identify patients at high risk for development of NOAF. Especially among these parameters, the presence of diffuse lung infiltration on thorax CT it was the most powerful independent predictor of NOAF development., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)