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(Circulation. 2004;109:e9038.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

C-Reactive Protein Levels at the Extremes

Levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein at both ends of the spectrum provide important prognostic information about cardiovascular risk, said researchers from Harvard Medical School in this week’s issue of the journal Circulation(Circulation. 2004;109;1955–1959).

Although high-sensitivity C-reactive protein is a known independent risk factor for cardiovascular events, patients with levels below 1 mg/L are considered to be at low risk, whereas those with levels between 1 and 3 mg/L are at considered to be at moderate risk and those with levels over 3 mg/L are considered to be high risk. These researchers, however, were concerned about what happened when the levels fell below 0.5 mg/L or went above 10 mg/L.

They obtained the baseline levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein in 27 939 apparently healthy women and followed them for myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary revascularization, or death from cardiovascular causes. The relative risks of these events were calculated across the different risk levels. The researchers, led by Paul M Ridker, MD, MPH, of Harvard found that the risks increased as the levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein went up. For example, when the C-reactive protein level was less than 0.5 mg/L, the relative risk was 1. If it was between 2 and 3 mg/L, the relative risk was 3.5, and at levels above 20 mg/L, the relative risk was 7.6.

When adjusted for Framingham Risk Score, the risks went down. For example, when the levels were over 20 mg/L, the relative risk was 3.1. The researchers noted . . . [Full Text of this Article]