Concentric or eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an independent prognostic factor of major cardiovascular events in hypertension (HT). A high neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is correlated with high mortality and poor prognosis in cardiovascular disease. This study was performed to investigate the associations between NLR and different left ventricular (LV) geometric patterns in patients with newly diagnosed HT.
The study population consisted of 222 patients with newly diagnosed HT (mean age: 53.2 ± 10.0 years). Echocardiographic examination was performed in all patients. Four different geometric patterns were determined in hypertensive patients according to the left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and relative wall thickness (RWT).
The baseline demographic characteristics were similar in all groups. The NLR and platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were higher in the eccentric hypertrophy and concentric hypertrophy groups compared to the normal geometry and concentric remodeling groups (p < 0.05, for all). NLR was positively and significantly correlated with LVMI (r = 0.508, p < 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that LVMI was independently correlated with NLR (β = 5.440, p < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (β = 0.284, p < 0.001), ejection fraction (β = -0.201, p < 0.001), E/A (β = -2.270, p = 0.24), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (β = -0.245, p < 0.001).
We demonstrated that patients with newly diagnosed HT with LVH had significantly higher NLR and PLR compared to those without LVH. In addition, NLR predicted LVH in hypertensive patients. The results of this study suggested that inflammation plays a role in the pathogenesis of LVH in hypertensive subjects.