Measurements of white blood cells in patients may offer a simple and low-cost way to predict heart attack or death, according to a new study by cardiac researchers at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City.

"This is just a standard test that doctors do all the time, and it's very inexpensive," said Jeffrey Anderson, associate chief of cardiology at LDS Hospital. "It's just taking information from a complete blood count and getting more information from it."

Anderson said he expects more doctors to learn about the test as word gets out about the study, published last week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

A team of researchers looked at blood test results from 3,227 patients who underwent coronary angiography at the hospital between 1994 and 2001. The patients did not show signs of having suffered a heart attack before the procedure, they all survived the hospitalization and their records provided follow-up averaging three and a half years.

Researchers found the risk of a subsequent heart attack or death was higher in those patients who had elevated total white blood cell counts.

They surmised that the white blood cell count increases when inflammation occurs in blood vessel walls. That process is believed to lead to the development of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, which causes heart attacks and strokes.

"It's believed that atherosclerosis is not just a passive process, but it's inflammatory, like a low grade infection. The normal response to inflammation is for the white blood count to increase," Anderson said.

The test could help doctors identify when to treat some patients and not treat others, if their blood pressures or cholesterol levels are borderline.

chamilton@sltrib.com