ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Pulmonary Medicine
Association Between Complete Blood Cell Count-Derived Inflammatory Indices and Left Atrial Thrombus in Patients with Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation: A Cross-Sectional Study
You Zhou 1
Xuewen Song 2
Ji-fang Ma 1
Yuexia Ren 1
Erpeng Liang 1
Ke Chen 1
Weifeng Song 1
Xiaobiao Zang 1
Zhihan Zhao 1
Lei Wang 1
Yonghui Zhao 1
Xianqing Wang 1
Haixia Fu 1
1. Central China Fuwai Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
2. Henan Cancer Hospital Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
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Abstract
Background: Systemic inflammation plays a key role in thrombogenesis, yet the value of routine complete blood count-derived inflammatory indices for predicting left atrial thrombus (LAT) in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) remains unclear. Methods: In this cross-sectional study of 623 patients with NVAF (59 with LAT, 9.5%), we evaluated eight inflammatory indices for their association with LAT, using multivariable logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Among the inflammatory markers analyzed, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), neutrophil-to-mean platelet volume ratio (NMR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV) were significantly associated with LAT risk after multivariable adjustment. ROC curve analysis indicated moderate predictive accuracy for these five indices, with area under the curve values ranging from 0.582 to 0.601, though no significant differences were found between them. Other indices, including monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, and white blood cell-to-mean platelet volume ratio, showed no significant predictive value. Conclusion: NLR, NMR, SII, SIRI, and PIV are readily accessible and cost-effective inflammatory biomarkers that show association with LAT risk in NVAF patients. These indices may offer supplementary information for risk stratification in clinical practice. Their potential to guide more intensive assessment or therapeutic strategies requires further prospective validation.
Summary
Keywords
Atrial Fibrillation, biomarkers, Inflammation, risk stratification, Thrombosis
Received
22 October 2025
Accepted
09 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Zhou, Song, Ma, Ren, Liang, Chen, Song, Zang, Zhao, Wang, Zhao, Wang and Fu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Haixia Fu
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