A Novel Predictor of Vegetation Size in Infective Endocarditis: MAPH Score

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of the MAPH score, a novel score that includes blood viscosity biomarkers such as hematocrit, mean platelet volume (MPV), age, and total protein, on the extent of vegetation in infective endocarditis.
METHODS: This study was retrospective. Fifty-four patients older than 18 years who were diagnosed with infective endocarditis (IE) between June 2017 and June 2023 were included. The study included patients from three different tertiary healthcare centers. Hematocrit, C-reactive Protein (CRP), MPV, total protein, serum albumin, kidney and liver function tests were analyzed on the first day of hospitalization. The Youden Index was used to determine the cut points for predicting age and MPV, hematocrit and total protein values for vegetation size. The MAPH score has been calculated as a total of 0 or 1 point with the cutoff in each ratio, and values above the cutoff were considered 1 point.
RESULTS: Forty-eight patients (58.2%) were found to have large vegetations (>10 mm). The mean age of the patients was 54.78 ± 17.32 years. The other clinical characteristics and demographic data were similar to each other. MPV, total protein level and MAPH score were significantly higher in the vegetation size >10 mm group than in the vegetation size <10 mm group (p=0.014, p=0.032, p=0.005) when analyzing the clinical laboratory characteristics of the study.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The MAPH score can be used to predict vegetation size according to the results of our study.