The Association between Platelet/Lymphocyte Ratio and Coronary Artery Disease Severity in Asymptomatic Low Ejection Fraction Patients

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Coronary angiography (CAG) is generally needed in the setting of systolic heart failure (HF) with an unidentified etiology as a part of diagnostic strategy. On the other hand, the clinical value of this invasive strategy is largely unknown. Platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has recently emerged as a novel inflammatory index that may serve as an important predictor of inflammatory state and overall mortality. The present study aimed to search the predictive value of PLR in determining the extent of coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic low ejection fraction (EF) patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 156 asymptomatic heart failure (HF) subjects (without angina or HF symptoms, mean age: 58 years; to male: 71.2%) were enrolled, and thereafter a CAG was performed. Gensini Score was used to determine the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) on CAG. According to this scoring system, the overall study group was categorized into three distinct subgroups: control group with the score 0, mild atherosclerosis group with the score 0 to 20 and severe atherosclerosis group with the score of >20. Thereafter, a comparison was made among groups with regard to mean values of PLR. RESULTS: The severe atherosclerosis group had a substantially higher level of mean PLR in comparison to other groups (p<0.001). Pre-CAG PLR levels as well as a variety of clinical variables including age, low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol demonstrated an independent correlation with Gensini score through a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest the potential association of high PLR levels with severe atherosclerosis in the setting of asymptomatic systolic HF. A simple measurement of PLR helps to identify the severity of coronary atherosclerosis prior to conducting coronary angiography.

Arrhythmogenic Noncompaction Cardiomyopathy: Is There an Echocardiographic Phenotypic Overlap of Two Distinct Cardiomyopathies?

The clinical diagnosis of right ventricular (RV) cardiomyopathies is often challenging. It is difficult to differentiate the isolated left ventricular (LV) noncompaction cardiomyopathy (NC) from biventricular NC or from coexisting arrhythmogenic ventricular cardiomyopathy (AC). There are currently few established morphologic criteria for the diagnosis other than RV dilation and presence of excessive regional trabeculation. The gross and microscopic changes suggest pathological similarities between, or coexistence of, RV-NC and AC. Therefore, the term arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy is somewhat misleading as isolated LV or biventricular involvement may be present and thus a broader term such as AC should be preferred. We describe an unusual case of AC associated with a NC in a 27-year-old man who had a history of permanent pacemaker 7 years ago due to second-degree atrioventricular block.

The Presence of Fragmented QRS on 12-Lead Electrocardiography in Patients with Coronary Artery Ectasia

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is an angiographic finding characterized by dilation of an arterial segment with a diameter at least 1.5 times that of its adjacent normal coronary artery. Fragmented QRS (fQRS) complexes are electrocardiographic signals which reflect altered ventricular conduction around regions of a myocardial scar and/or ischaemia. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the presence of fQRS in patients with CAE. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study population included 100 patients with isolated CAE without coronary artery disease (CAD) and 80 angiographically normal controls. fQRS was defined as the presence of an additional R wave or notching of R or S wave or the presence of fragmentation in two contiguous leads corresponding to a major coronary artery territory. RESULTS: The two groups were similar in terms of age, sex, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and family history of CAD. The presence of fQRS was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the CAE group than that in the normal coronary artery group (29% vs. 6.2%, p=0.008). Isolated CAE were detected most commonly in the right coronary artery (61%), followed by left anterior descending artery (52%), left circumflex artery (36%), and left main artery (9%). Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that CAE {odds ratio (OR) 1.412; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.085-1.541; p=0.003} and diabetes (OR 1.310; 95% CI 1.025-1.482; p=0.041) were independently associated with fQRS. CONCLUSION: The presence of fragmented QRS associated with increased risk for arrhythmias and cardiovascular mortality was significantly higher in patients with CAE than in patient with normal coronary artery. Further studies are needed to determine whether the presence of fragmented QRS is a possible new risk factor for patients with CAE.