Association of red blood cell distribution width levels with severity of coronary artery disease in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction

The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of the levels of red blood cell distribution width [RDW] with the severity of atherosclerosis and to determine whether or not the RDW level on admission is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction [NSTEMI]. Materials and A total of 335 consecutive patients with NSTEMI were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided into high [n = 105] and low [n = 230] SYNTAX groups. The high SYNTAX group was defined as patients with a value in the third tertile [SYNTAX score, SXscore >/=12], while the low SYNTAX group was defined as those with a value in the lower 2 tertiles [SXscore <12]. The high RDW group [n = 152] was defined as patients with RDW >14.25% and the low RDW group [n = 183] as those with RDW ?14.25%. All-cause mortality was followed up to 38 months. The mean follow-up period was 18 +/- 11 months. The RDW levels of patients were significantly higher in the high SYNTAX group than in the low SYNTAX group [15.2 +/- 1.8 vs. 14.2 +/- 1.2, p < 0.001]. Pearson's coefficients were used to determine the degree of association between RDW levels and SXscore and also between RDW levels and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. There was a significant correlation between RDW levels and SXscore [r = 0.460, p < 0.001]. Also, there was a significant correlation between RDW levels and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [r = 0.180, p = 0.001]. All-cause mortality rate was not significantly different between the high and low RDW groups [log-rank, p = 0.621]. RDW levels were independently associated with high SXscore but were not associated with long-term mortality in NSTEMI patients

investigation of tenascin-c levels in rheumatic mitral stenosis and their response to percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the tenascin-C levels in severe rheumatic mitral stenosis before and after percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty [PMBV]. Forty patients with severe mitral stenosis requiring PMBV and 20 age-matched healthy subjects were included in the study. The mitral valve areas, mitral gradients and systolic pulmonary artery pressure [sPAP] were measured by echocardiography. The sPAP values and mitral gradients were also measured by catheterization before and after PMBV. The blood tenascin-C levels were measured before PMBV and 1 month after the procedure. The echocardiographic mean mitral gradients had a significant decrease after PMBV [11.7 +/- 2.8 vs. 5.6 +/- 1.7 mm Hg; p < 0.001] and also those of catheterization [13.9 +/- 4.4 vs. 4.0 +/- 2.4 mm Hg; p < 0.001]. Mitral valve areas increased significantly after PMBV [from 1.1 +/- 0.1 to 1.8 +/- 0.2 cm[2], p < 0.001]. Tenascin-C levels decreased significantly in patients after PMBV [from 15.0 +/- 3.8 to 10.9 +/- 3.1 ng/ml; p < 0.001]. Tenascin-C levels were higher in patients with mitral stenosis before PMBV than in healthy subjects [15.0 +/- 3.8 and 9.4 +/- 2.9 ng/ml; p < 0.001, respectively]. There were no significant differences between patients with mitral stenosis after PMBV and healthy subjects [10.9 +/- 3.1 and 9.4 +/- 2.9 ng/ml; p = 0.09, respectively]. There was a significant positive correlation between tenascin-C levels and sPAP [r = 0.508, p < 0.001]. In multivariant analysis, tenascin-C predicted mitral stenosis [p = 0.004, OR: 2.31]. Tenascin-C was an independent predictor for rheumatic mitral stenosis