The Neutrophil Percentage-to-Albumin Ratio as a New Predictor of All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Cardiogenic Shock

BACKGROUND: Although the neutrophil percentage-to-albumin ratio (NPAR) has proven to be a robust systemic inflammation-based predictor of mortality in a wide range of diseases, the prognostic value of the NPAR in critically ill patients with cardiogenic shock (CS) remains unknown. This study aimed at investigating the association between the admission NPAR and clinical outcomes in CS patients using real-world data. METHODS: Critically ill patients diagnosed with CS in the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-III (MIMIC-III) database were included in our study. The study endpoints included all-cause in-hospital, 30-day, and 365-day mortality in CS patients. First, the NPAR was analyzed as a continuous variable using restricted cubic spline Cox regression models. Second, X-tile analysis was used to calculate the optimal cut-off values for the NPAR and divide the cohort into three NPAR groups. Moreover, multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to assess the association of the NPAR groups with mortality. RESULTS: A total of 891 patients hospitalized with CS were enrolled in this study. A nonlinear relationship between the NPAR and in-hospital and 30-day mortality was observed (all P values for nonlinear trend<0.001). According to the optimal cut-off values by X-tile, NPARs were divided into three groups: group I (NPAR < 25.3), group II (25.3 ≤ NPAR < 34.8), and group III (34.8 ≤ NPAR). Multivariable Cox analysis showed that higher NPAR was independently associated with increased risk of in-hospital mortality (group III vs. group I: hazard ratio [HR] 2.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.72-3.92, P < 0.001), 30-day mortality (group III vs. group I: HR 2.42, 95% CI 1.65-3.54, P < 0.001), and 365-day mortality (group III vs. group I: HR 6.80, 95% CI 4.10-11.26, P < 0.001) in patients with CS. CONCLUSIONS: Admission NPAR was independently associated with in-hospital, 30-day, and 365-day mortality in critically ill patients with CS.