title: Erythrocyte aggregation portends worse outcomes in unstable angina patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The positive correlation between the time from symptom onset to the appearance of an inflammatory response and erythrocyte aggregation (EA) in the peripheral blood of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) patients had been previously reported by us. We now analyze the added prognostic value of EA in ACS patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed an analysis on prospectively collected data at a tertiary hospital catheterization laboratory between 2006-2011. Cox regression models were fitted for EA cut-offs and performed separately for myocardial infarction (MI) and unstable angina pectoris (UAP) patients. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were defined as all-cause mortality, MI and stroke. Follow up time was defined as the time from PCI to either MACE or November 20, 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Included were 1055 patients (637 with MI and 418 with UAP). The median follow up in the MI and the UAP groups was 14 and 15 months, respectively (maximal follow up of 4.1 years). In the UAP group there was a significant increase in the MACE for the group with high EA (HR = 2.3, p = 0.04) compared to the group of patients with low EA. This was not found for patients presenting with MI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Elevated EA portends worse outcomes in UAP patients undergoing PCI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Arie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinvil
authors.forename: Yaron
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Arbel
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leshem-Rubinow
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Halkin
authors.forename: Gad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Keren
authors.forename: Miri
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Revivo
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finkelstein
authors.forename: Merav
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tal
authors.forename: Galit
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aviram
authors.forename: Shlomo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berliner
authors.forename: Shmuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banai
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000601:surgery*; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000097:blood*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D004903:Erythrocyte Aggregation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood; D062645:Percutaneous Coronary Intervention / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: C-reactive protein; erythrocyte aggregation; myocardial infarction; unstable angina pectoris