New biomarkers of inflammation in hospitalized patients with atrial fibrillation

INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia worldwide, with a strong clinical association with heart failure. International literature has revealed new hematological and biomolecular markers of inflammation and oxidative stress not explored in our setting. OBJECTIVE: To relate new biomolecular and hematological markers of inflammation with clinical, epidemiological and echocardiographic characteristics of hospitalized patients with atrial fibrillation METHOD: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out in patients with atrial fibrillation admitted to the cardiology service of the “Saturnino Lora” Provincial Teaching Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, during the period from January 2019 to January 2020. The relationship between selected clinical, sociodemographic, electro and echocardiographic variables with hematological and biomolecular inflammatory markers was established RESULTS: patients ≥ 65 years old, female sex, combined risk factors, mainly arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus predominated; there was a statistically significant association between the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio and the appearance of complications, stroke, altered renal function, but not with the type of atrial fibrillation; Interesting relationships were also found between the total leukocyte and lymphocyte count, platelet/lymphocyte ratio and selected clinical variables. CONCLUSIONS: Hematological and biomolecular markers of inflammation in patients with atrial fibrillation are related to clinical evolution, appearance of complications and could be useful for stratifying the risk of complications.