LAUSR

INTRODUCTION Peripheral venous blood sample may be used to obtain acid-base balance parameters (PVA-BP) measured in rapid point-of-care test analyzers (POCT) on admission to emergency department (ED). Thus, lactates, anion gap (AG) and base excess (BE) may be early prognostic markers in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). OBJECTIVES We aimed to confirm the relationship between PVA-BP on admission and the outcome in patients with MI treated by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective, observational analysis of MI patients admitted primarily to ED and secondly transferred to PCI department. RESULTS 336 patients (41.1% STEMI, 58.9% NSTEMI) were divided according to lactates level: G1:≤2.0 mmol/l (n = 207), G2:>2.0 mmol/l (n = 129). G2 patients had higher values of AG (mean (SD), 9.6 (4.3) vs 6.8 (3.2) mEq/l; P <0.001) and lower BE (median [interquartile range (IQR)], -0.7 [-3.9;0.8] vs 1.0 [-0.2;2.4] mEq/l; P <0.001). In-hospital non-survivors had higher values of lactates (4.0 [2.0;8.7] vs 1.7 [1.3;2.4] mmol/l; P <0.001), AG (10.5 (4.6) vs 7.7 (3.8) mEq/l; P <0.001) and lower BE (-4.8 [-10.6;-1.8] vs 1.5 [-0.8;2.3] mEq/l; P <0.001) compared to survivors. Lactates, AG and BE correlated with GRACE score (r = 0.361; P <0.001, r = 0.158; P = 0.004, r = -0.383; P <0.001, respectively). Only BE independently predicted both 30- and 365-days mortality in whole group (HR 0.79, 95%CI 0.65-0.95; P = 0.01, HR 0.89, 95%CI 0.76-0.99; P = 0.04, respectively) as well as in-hospital mortality among patients without infarct-related out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OR 0.74, 95%CI 0.57-0.97; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS In patients admitted to ED with MI treated with PCI the evaluation of PVA-BP assessed in POCT analyzers may be a reliable tool for early risk stratification.