Combination of Neutrophil‐to‐Lymphocyte and Platelet‐to‐Lymphocyte Ratios as a Novel Predictor of Cardiac Death in Patients With Acute Decompensated Heart Failure With Preserved Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction: A Multicenter Study

BACKGROUND: Neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are novel inflammation markers. Their combined usefulness for estimating the prognosis of patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) admitted for acute decompensated heart failure remains elusive. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated 1026 patients registered in the Prospective Multicenter Observational Study of Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction. Both NLR and PLR values were measured at the time of admission. Comorbidity burden was defined as the number of occurrences of 8 common comorbidities of HFpEF. The primary end point was cardiac death. The patients were stratified into 3 groups based on the optimal cut‐off values of NLR and PLR on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for predicting cardiac death (low NLR and PLR, either high NLR or PLR, and both high NLR and PLR). After a median follow‐up of 429 days, 195 patients died, with 85 of these deaths attributed to cardiac causes. An increased comorbidity burden was significantly associated with a higher proportion of patients with high NLR (>4.5) or PLR (>193), or both. High NLR and PLR values were independently associated with cardiac death, and a combination of both values was the strongest predictor (hazard ratio, 2.66 [95% CI, 1.51–4.70], P=0.0008). A significant difference was found in the rate of cardiac death among the 3 groups stratified by NLR and PLR values. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of NLR and PLR is useful for the prediction of postdischarge cardiac death in patients with acute HFpEF. REGISTRATION: URL: ClinicalTrials.gov; Unique identifier: UMIN000021831.