Prognostic value of interleukin-6 in the outcome of patients with acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation <b>[Abstract in English]</b>

Abstract

Aims: To identify the prognostic value of interleukin- 6 (IL-6) in patients with acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation admitted to the Coronary Care Unit of Hospital São Lucas da PUCRS. Methods: Ninety consecutive patients with acute coronary syndrome without ST-segment elevation were selected for the study and followed for an average period of 29.4 months, analyzing the occurrence of the following adverse outcomes: death, acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina and a myocardial revascularization procedure in periods of 30 days, 60 days, 6 months, 1 year and more than 1 year. Patients were divided in 2 groups, according to IL-6 values, those with higher or lower values than the median (50 percentile value), corresponding to a cut-off point of 3.7 (DPC-Medlab). Results: By logistic regression analyses it was found that IL-6 levels > 3.7 were associated with an increased risk of acute myocardial infarction after the total follow-up period of the study (OR 5.5; 95% IC 1.5-20.4; p 0.010). Conclusions: Increased IL-6 levels may be associated with poorer cardiovascular outcomes in the follow-up of patients after an acute coronary syndrome event. KEY WORDS: INTERLEUKIN-6; CORONARY DISEASE; PROGNOSIS; RISK FACTORS.