Article Text
Abstract
Objectives To investigate in a follow-up study whether high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) predicts coronary heart disease (CHD) events and stent thrombosis in subjects undergone drug-eluting stent implantation.
Methods We evaluated 3691 patients treated with drug-eluting stents who had a baseline CRP measurement. The primary outcome was stent thrombosis; secondary outcomes were death, myocardial infarction (MI), death or MI, and target vessel revascularisation.
Results During follow-up (median, 2 years), 26 patients had definite or probable stent thrombosis, 146 patients died, 239 had an MI, and 206 underwent target vessel revascularisation. In multivariable Cox proportional-hazards models, elevated levels of hs-CRP were significantly associated with increased risk of stent thrombosis. Elevated hs-CRP levels also significantly predicted the risks of death, MI, and death or MI, but not target vessel revascularisation.
Conclusions Elevated hs-CRP levels were significantly associated with increased risks of stent thrombosis, death, and MI in patients receiving drug-eluting stents, suggesting the usefulness of inflammatory risk assessment with CRP.