Relation of an elevated white blood cell count after percutaneous coronary intervention to long-term mortality

Increased inflammatory markers are associated with a poor prognosis after percutaneous coronary intervention. Leukocytes play a key role in inflammation, and an increase in white blood cell (WBC) counts is a nonspecific marker of inflammation. In patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, baseline WBC counts independently predict long-term mortality. In a pooled cohort of patients from the Evaluation of c7E3 for the Prevention of Ischemic Complications (EPIC), the Evaluation in PTCA to Improve Long-term Outcome with abciximab Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa blockade (EPILOG), and Evaluation of Platelet IIb/IIIa inhibitor for STENTing (EPISTENT) trials, postprocedural WBC counts were also found to be an independent predictor of long-term mortality.