Response of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein to percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) provokes an inflammatory reaction, as shown by increased concentrations of plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) after PCI. However, the changes of CRP levels after PCI in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have not been well evaluated. We evaluated the characteristics of the patients with elevated CRP response after PCI and whether an increase in CRP after PCI predicts long-term prognosis in patients with ACS. We studied consecutive 360 patients with ACS who underwent elective coronary stenting. Inflammatory response to PCI was calculated as the difference between the peak postprocedural hsCRP level and the preprocedural hsCRP level (ΔCRP). Twelve months follow-up data were obtained and clinical outcomes were compared with ΔCRP. In receiver operating characteristics analyses, the cutoff point of ΔCRP for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) was 3.0 mg/l, which yielded sensitivity of 61.7% and specificity of 69.7%. The patients with ΔCRP > 3 mg/l revealed higher incidence of myocardial infarction (37.7 vs 14.6%, P < 0.001), and ACC/AHA type B2/C lesion (81.5 vs 68.7%, P = 0.006) than in patients with low ΔCRP. White blood cell count, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, peak creatinine kinase-MB, and peak troponin T were significantly elevated in patients with ΔCRP > 3 mg/l than in those with ≥3 mg/l. There was significant correlation between ΔCRP and the changes in troponin T after PCI (r = 0.210, P < 0.001). An increase in hsCRP > 3 mg/l after PCI had a higher predictive value for the occurrence of MACE than low hsCRP elevation (hazard ratio 2.1, P = 0.005). In multivariate analysis, ΔCRP and peak troponin T were independent predictors of MACE (P < 0.001 and P = 0.013, respectively). In conclusion, postprocedural hsCRP elevation >3 mg/l was associated with higher incidence of MACE in patients with ACS. ΔCRP determinations may be of value for risk stratification after PCI.