Correlation between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and coronary calcium score in CT angiography. NLR and coronary calcification

Background: cardiovascular diseases are the most common causes of death worldwide. Atherosclerosis is the most important etiology for cardiovascular diseases. Nowadays, atherosclerosis is defined as a chronic inflammatory disease. Among the most important inflammatory markers, WBC is said to be a risk factor for cardiovascular events and mortality. Among different WBC sub-types, neutrophil and thus neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an important predictor for mortality and morbidity. Based on this, in this study we aimed to investigate the correlation between NLR and coronary artery calcification. Patients and methods: This research is a cross-sectional study of correlation type. A total of 353 consecutive patients were enrolled with stable angina referred to Afshar heart center for elective CT-angiography. Patients were divided into 4 groups based on NLR and the patients' data was analyzed using SPPSS ver.26 software. Results: In this study a total of 353 patients were investigated which included 159 women and 194 men. The patients ages ranged between 19 and 80 and the average age was 53 years. We found a statistically significant difference in coronary calcium score (CCS) between patients in fourth quartile of NLR and other patients (P-Value<0.001). Spearman's correlation test with r=0.420 and P-Value<0.001 indicated a positive correlation between NLR and CCS. Conclusion: Based on the results of present research its concluded that NLR is correlated with CCS and patients with NLR above 2.42 are in danger of higher risk of coronary artery calcification.