Prognostic Value of Leucocyte Telomere Length in Acute Myocardial Infarction

Introduction: Leucocyte telomere length (LTL) has been described as a marker of biological age, endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. The association between LTL and clinical characteristics of Asian patients, and their outcomes following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have been inconclusive.Objective: To investigate the relationship between LTL and developing AMI, the association of LTL with inpatient and 30-day mortality, and the comparison to LTL with established AMI risk scores in predicting these outcomes.Methodology: 100 patients aged 30-70 years admitted with an AMI to a tertiary referral center between May-Oct 2017 were enrolled; these were matched with 100 non-AMI (u0027healthyu0027) controls for gender and age (+/- 1 year). Clinical data was obtained prospectively; inpatient and 30-day outcomes documented. LTL was reflected by a well described variable called a tis ratio (TSR).The TSR was measured at enrolment using a quantitative PCR-based methods (qPCR) and results blinded to the clinician.