The impact of C reactive protein on global cardiovascular risk on patients with coronary artery disease

Introduction. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of premature death worldwide. Hundreds of risk factors have been associated with cardiovascular disease. Recent extensive evidence supports inflammation as a key pathogenetic mechanism in the development and progression of atherosclerosis and in triggering clinical atherothrombotic CVD events. C-reactive protein (CRP) is one possible marker of vascular inflammation and plays a direct role in promoting vascular inflammation, vessel damage and clinical CVD events. Material and method. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between CRP level and the global cardiovascular risk. We evaluated 100 patients with cardiovascular risk factors, using the systematic coronary risk evalution (SCORE) charts for high risk regions of Europe and we determined the CRP level, using the nephelometric method. Results. By their SCORE chart, 44% of the patients are in the moderate risk category, and almost 40% in the high risk category, the rest of them (16%) are in the low and very high risk category. A statistically significant p value (p<0.05) was observed between patients with CRP<10mg/L, who had a lower sistolic blood pressure than patients with CRP≥10mg/L, Conclusion. The CRP level over 10mg/L is correlated with an over 4% risk of developing a fatal CVD in 10 years. The acute phase reactant, CRP, a simple downstream marker of inflammation, has now emerged as a major cardiovascular risk factor.