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Published on: January 28, 2020

Diagnostic value of CRP and Lp(a) in coronary heart disease

Ayşe Binnur Erbağci1, Mehmet Tarakçioğlu, Mehmet Aksoy

  • 1University of Gaziantep, Medical School, Department of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Turkey. erbagci@gantep.edu.tr

Acta Cardiologica
|June 29, 2002
PubMed

Insights

C-reactive protein (CRP) effectively differentiates coronary heart disease (CHD) patients from controls, showing high diagnostic efficiency. Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] levels were not efficient enough for CHD management.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Biomarkers
  • Diagnostic Efficacy

Background:

  • Elevated lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD).
  • C-reactive protein (CRP) is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Establish optimal cut-off levels for CRP and Lp(a) to maximize diagnostic efficiency for CHD.
  • Evaluate the diagnostic performance of CRP and Lp(a) in identifying CHD.

Main Methods:

  • Measured CRP and Lp(a) in patients with angiographically demonstrated CHD, patients without lesions, and healthy controls.
  • Utilized Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to determine optimal cut-off values and diagnostic performances.
  • Adjusted data for lipid profiles, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, age, and BMI.

Main Results:

  • CRP levels were significantly higher in CHD patients compared to controls in both sexes.
  • Lp(a) levels showed no difference in men but were higher in women with CHD.
  • Optimal CRP cut-off levels were 2.1 mg/l (women) and 3.0 mg/l (men) with diagnostic values of 0.792 and 0.770.
  • Optimal Lp(a) cut-off levels were 22.6 mg/dl (women) and 9.8 mg/dl (men) with diagnostic values of 0.612 and 0.596.

Conclusions:

  • CRP demonstrates high efficiency in distinguishing CHD patients from controls, suggesting its utility in CHD diagnosis.
  • Despite its diagnostic value, CRP lacks specificity for CHD.
  • Lp(a) measurement is not sufficiently efficient to support its use in managing CHD.
Abstract

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