title: New inflammatory markers in pre-eclampsia: echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Increased epicardial fat thickness (EFT) has been proposed as a new cardiometabolic risk factor. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has predictive and prognostic value in several cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the association between EFT and NLR in patients with pre-eclampsia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hundred and eight pregnant patients with a mean age of 30.6 ± 6.3 years were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of pre-eclampsia. All participants underwent transthoracic echocardiography imaging, and complete blood counts were measured by an automated hematology analyzer. Statistical analysis was performed using the Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, correlation and logistic regression tests, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean EFT value of the pre-eclampsia group was significantly higher than the control group (6.9 ± 0.6 versus 5.6 ± 0.6; p < 0.001), and the NLR value of the pre-eclampsia group was also significantly higher than the control group (7.3 ± 3.5 versus 3.1 ± 1.1; p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that increased levels of NLR and echocardiographic EFT are independent predictors of pre-eclampsia. In the receiver operating characteristic analysis, a level of EFT ≥ 6.2 mm and NLR ≥ 4.1 predicted the presence of pre-eclampsia with 77.8% sensitivity, 79.6% specificity and 83.3% sensitivity, 81.5% specificity, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Unlike many other inflammatory markers and bioassays, NLR and echocardiographic EFT are inexpensive and readily available biomarkers that may be useful for risk stratification in patients with pre-eclampsia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology and.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oylumlu
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozler
authors.forename: Abdulkadir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.forename: Muhammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oylumlu
authors.forename: Halit
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Acet
authors.forename: Nihat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Polat
authors.forename: Hatice Ender
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Soydinc
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yuksel
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ertas
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000473:pathology*; D010496:Pericardium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Echocardiography; epicardial fat thickness; hypertension; neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; pre-eclampsia