C-reactive Protein is Elevated in Symptomatic Compared with Asymptomatic Patients with Carotid Artery Disease

Abstract

plasma hs-CRP was elevated in symptomatic compared to asymptomatic patients with carotid artery disease. High sensitivity C-reactive protein has been shown to be of prognostic value in a number of cardiovascular conditions and this study suggests it may be of value to identify patient at high risk of developing neurological deficits.

Marked decrease in the levels of two inflammatory markers, hs-C-reactive protein and fibrinogen in patients with severe carotid atherosclerosis after eversion carotid endarterectomy

“…Other observations of the present study such as the significantly higher hs-CRP and fibrinogen levels in patients with severe carotid atherosclerosis are in agreement with the results of previous studies [12,14,15] On the other hand, in contrast to the findings of Rerkasem et al [12] we did not find significantly elevated hs-CRP concentrations in symptomatic compared with asymptomatic patients with carotid artery disease.…”

“…Hs-CRP concentrations are elevated in symptomatic compared with asymptomatic patients with carotid artery disease [12], and hs-CRP was found to be an independent predictor of the rate of increase in early carotid atherosclerosis [13,14]. Increased acute phase reactant levels are associated with increased carotid plaque volume [15].…”

C-Reactive Protein Level in Severe Stenosis of Cerebral Arteries

“…Several prospective studies indicate that an elevated CRP concentration is a risk factor for cerebrovascular events, independent of the traditional biochemical risk markers [2,24,25,26,27]. Our results have confirmed that automated assay methodology for CRP is well standardized and highly sensitive with sufficient precision to detect even a mild elevation of CRP within the reference range.…”

C-reactive Protein Level and Traditional Vascular Risk Factors in the Prediction of Carotid Stenosis

“…For example, given the absolute magnitude of difference we observed among the mean±SD CRP levels for symptomatic vs asymptomatic patients with carotid stenosis (5.1±7.1 vs 2.8±3.7 mg/dL, P=.11), it seems possible that this comparison might have achieved statistical significance with a larger sample size and greater statistical power. Indeed, the potential usefulness of CRP level to differentiate symptomatic vs asymptomatic patients with surgically significant carotid disease was well described in a larger study by Rerkasem et al 19 Another potentially confounding issue regarding this patient population is that it may be heterogeneous in that it includes new referrals and follow-up patients. Therefore, any in- Abbreviations: CRP, C-reactive protein; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein.…”