White cell count may predict prognosis after heart procedures

Cardiology

White blood cell counts after catheterization and other heart procedures may be a predictor of long-term survival rates, according to a recent report in the American Journal of Cardiology. Such procedures, including angioplasty and stenting, are traumatic to the body, and the body’s natural response to trauma is to increase white blood cell production.

If you’re like me, your first reaction to this might be, oh, brother, you’ve traumatized me big-time and now you’re going to tell me I’m not going to live much longer anyway…

But long-term this discovery could mean that doctors would know much more about how to tailor treatment after heart procedures in order to keep people optimally healthy.