Bilirubin Levels and Thrombus Burden in Patients With ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

We investigated whether serum bilirubin level (a marker of heme oxygenase activity) is a predictor of thrombus burden in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Patients (n = 229; male 72.9%; mean age 63 +/- 13.4 years) who were admitted with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were enrolled. Patients were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 was defined as low thrombus burden and group 2 was defined as high thrombus burden. Patients with high thrombus burden had higher total bilirubin levels (14.4 [4.3-22.9] vs 7.7 [2.4-20.3] mu mol/L, P .001), (0.84 [0.25-1.34] vs 0.45 [0.14-1.19] mg/dL P .001) and direct bilirubin levels (3.1 [2.1-8.4] vs 1.7 [0.5-6.5] mu mol/L, P .001), (0.18 [0.03-0.49] vs 0.10 [0.03-0.38] mg/dL, P .001). At multivariate analysis, total bilirubin (odds ratio: 1.05, 95% confidence interval: 1.03-1.08, P .001) was the independent predictor of high thrombus burden. In conclusion, total bilirubin level is independently associated with high thrombus burden in patients with STEMI.