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Simple whole blood analysis can effectively demonstrate complex changes in inflammatory responses to cardiovascular disorders in adults and enable the prediction of adverse outcomes or diminished survival. Such inflammatory activation has also been detected in the pediatric population. Blood analysis results are repeatable and readily available, which gives the method an advantage over others. Inflammatory phenomena such as a high leukocyte count and an increased neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are related to a poor prognosis of advanced heart defects and worse outcomes after pediatric cardiac surgery in the advanced stages of the disease. Surgery-associated inflammation exacerbates these diseases, and the inflammatory response may further complicate the postoperative period. Simple blood cell counts and indices may be beneficial for evaluating cardiac surgery outcomes and cardiovascular disorder prognosis in infants and children. This review summarizes current knowledge on inflammatory markers in pediatric cardiovascular diseases and surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Carotid artery stenosis is often considered a stable clinical condition, and the underlying atherosclerosis is thought to have an inflammatory background. Objectives. The aim of the study was to assess the value of different parameters obtained from whole blood counts for the prediction of advanced carotid artery atherosclerosis, including vessel occlusion, irrespective of symptom occurrence. Materials and methods. The study group comprised 290 patients (84 (29%) females and 206 (71%) males) with a mean age of 68 ±8 years, who were admitted to the Vascular Surgery Department due to significant carotid artery disease. Patients were retrospectively divided into 2 subgroups regarding the presence or absence of artery occlusion. The demographic, clinical and laboratory preoperative data were compared between both groups. Results. We found significant differences in preoperative large unstained cell (LUC) counts between patients with and without carotid artery occlusion (p = 0.003), when analyzed with the Mann-Whitney test for independent samples. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that LUC count has prognostic properties for carotid artery occlusion, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.637 (p = 0.033), yielding a 69.70% sensitivity and a 51.75% specificity. Conclusions. Large unstained cells represent an acute inflammatory state related to artery occlusion. An LUC count below the cutoff value of 0.16×109/L may be a predictor of carotid artery occlusion. Therefore, carotid artery occlusion should not be regarded as a chronic state, but as a clinical challenge being promoted by active inflammatory processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Nowadays, heart failure (HF) is a significant health problem due to steady increase in diagnosis, unpredictable acute decompensations and high mortality rate. Early risk stratifications of clinical deterioration are essential in preventing life-threatening events and ensuring proper patients management. Increased neutrophil to lymphocytes ratio (NTLR) above 6 is associated with the risk of re-hospitalizations and increased mortality. Objectives. To compare NLTR and clinical, laboratory and hemodynamic results obtained from patients re-hospitalized within six-month intervals due to HF decompensation. Material and methods. We evaluated 41 patients (n = 36 males (87%) and n = 5 females (13%), mean age 50 ±10 years) admitted to our hospital at least twice within six-month interval due to decompensation of chronic heart failure (CHF) between 2017 and 2019. All patients were divided into 2 groups depending on the NTLR values. Results. There was no death in presented group during the observational time. We observed a significant difference in cardiac index (CI) - 2.4 ±0.5 compared to 2.6 ±0.6 L/m2/min - between the 1st and 2nd admission (p = 0.0356). The right ventricle systolic pressure (RVSP) results related to NLTR level revealed significant difference (43 ±14 mm Hg compared to 59 ±21 mm Hg, p = 0.0438). We observed a significant increase of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) values (175 ±106 compared to 438 ±300 dyn*s*cm-5, p = 0.0386) in patients with NLTR above 6. Conclusions. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio may be an easy and suitable tool for monitoring of the HF progression. According to our study, the ratio correlates with PVR and RVSP increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Global warming is claimed to be an important cardiovascular disease risk factor. The air pollution and ambient temperatures are believed to have a significant influence on increased morbidity and premature deaths., Aim: To point out possible causative factors for coronary angiography progression in patients presenting with chronic coronary syndrome., Material and Methods: There were 66 patients (41 [62%] men and 25 [38%] women) with a median age of 71.5 (62-76) years, who underwent repeated coronary angiographies due to chronic coronary syndrome within a median time interval of 145 (96-296) days. In 18 (27%) patients coronary artery lesion progression was observed despite optimal pharmacotherapy. The demographical, clinical, and personalised epidemiological factors including air pollution particles and ambient temperature exposure were taken into account in the analysis., Results: In the multivariate logistic regression model with backward stepwise elimination method, tropical nights ( p = 0.047) and mean daily temperatures ( p = 0.043) were revealed as predictors of coronary lesion progression > 30%. The analysis of seasonal temperature changes showed significant differences related to minimal winter temperatures between both groups ( p = 0.018)., Conclusions: Coronary artery lesion progression can be related to either high values of daily temperatures or to low ambient temperature. The dichotomous characteristics of temperature exposure to atherosclerosis progression suggest a detrimental role of environmental extremities on human health., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2024 Termedia Sp. z o. o.)

Introduction: There has been a growing interest in off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) grafting in recent years. Beating-heart surgery is believed to be less invasive as it allows the side effects of extracorporeal circulation to be avoided., The Aim of the Study: The aim of the study was to compare blood product transfusion rates between two groups of patients undergoing surgery for ischemic heart disease with either the off-pump technique or using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)., Material and Methods: There were 152 patients enrolled in the prospective randomized study. All procedures were elective. There were 84 patients (62 men and 20 women) at the mean age of 63.74 ± 7 years who underwent OPCAB (group I), and 68 patients (54 men and 14 women) at the mean age of 63.51 ± 6 years who underwent cardiopulmonary bypass (group II)., Results: There were no perioperative deaths. The mean number of grafts was 2.27 ± 0.3 (OPCAB group) and 2.63 ± 0.6 (CPB group) (p < 0.05). The mean number of packed red blood cells transfused in the OPCAB group was 2.31 ± 0.18 units/patient and 3.94 ± 0.30 units/patient in the CPB group (p < 0.05). The mean number of fresh frozen plasma units transfused was 1.13 ± 0.13 in the OPCAB group vs. 1.57 ± 0.15 in the CPB group (p < 0.05). There were 12 patients (14%) in the OPCAB group who had no transfusion., Conclusions: One of the most important advantages of the OPCAB technique is that it makes it possible to reduce the rate of blood product transfusions.