To analyze the correlation of white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin (Hb), C-reactive protein (CRP), and albumin (Alb) with cardiac function in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients complicated with infective endocarditis (IE) to provide a basis for disease treatment and prognosis prediction.

Fifty patients with IE who were treated by MHD in the Third People's Hospital of Haikou from January 2019 to December 2020 were selected as a study group, and 50 patients with no IE were selected as a control group. The general information, peripheral blood WBC, Hb, CRP, ALB, red blood cells (RBC), platelets (PLT), and neutrophils (NE), serum creatinine (SCR), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were compared between the two groups. The clinical characteristics including the New York Heart Association (NYHA) cardiac function classification, results of blood culture, clinical signs, echocardiographic manifestations, complications, and clinical outcomes of patients in the study group were investigated and analyzed.

The proportion of patients with diabetes mellitus in the study group was higher than that in the control group (P＜0.05). The levels of WBC, NE, CRP, SCR, and BUN in the study group were higher than those in the control group, and the levels of RBC, Hb, and ALB were all lower than those of the control group (P＜0.05 for all). In the study group, 68% of the patients had NYHA class Ⅲ~Ⅳ cardiac function, all patients had fever symptoms, 78% had heart valve murmur upon auscultation, 68% had positive blood culture, 64% had pericardial effusion, 20% had cerebral infarction, 17 patients died after ineffective treatment, and the hospital mortality was 34%. In the study group, NYHA cardiac function classification was positively correlated with WBC and CRP levels in peripheral blood (r_s=0.702 and 0.568, P＜0.001), and negatively correlated with Hb and ALB levels (r_s=-0.498, and -0.617, P＜0.001), but not with NE, RBC, SCR, and BUN levels (P＞0.05).

MHD patients complicated with IE have certain clinical characteristics and a high in-hospital mortality. Heart dysfunction correlates with the increase of inflammatory markers such as WBC and CRP and the decrease of nutritional status indicators such as Hb and ALB. Clinicians should closely monitor and effectively intervene these indicators to achieve the purpose of improving the prognosis of patients.