Indisputable evidence that coronary artery calcium score predicts cardiovascular events in asymptomatic individuals exists, even in patients with low to normal LDL cholesterol and elevated C-reactive protein. Conversely, not all studies demonstrate a predictive role for biochemical markers.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Blaha, M. J. et al. Associations between C-reactive protein, coronary artery calcium, and cardiovascular events: implications for the JUPITER population from MESA, a population-based cohort study. Lancet 378, 684–692 (2011).
Ridker, P. M. et al. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein. N. Engl. J. Med. 359, 2195–2207 (2008).
Alexopoulos, N. & Raggi, P. Calcification in atherosclerosis. Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 6, 681–688 (2009).
Raggi, P. et al. Identification of patients at increased risk of first unheralded acute myocardial infarction by electron-beam computed tomography. Circulation 101, 850–855 (2000).
Boekholdt, S. M. et al. C-reactive protein levels and coronary artery disease incidence and mortality in apparently healthy men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study 1993–2003. Atherosclerosis 187, 415–422 (2006).
Danesh, J. et al. C-reactive protein and other circulating markers of inflammation in the prediction of coronary heart disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 350, 1387–1397 (2004).
Wilson, P. W. et al. C-reactive protein and risk of cardiovascular disease in men and women from the Framingham Heart Study. Arch. Intern. Med. 165, 2473–2478 (2005).
Arad, Y., Goodman, K. J., Roth, M., Newstein, D. & Guerci, A. D. Coronary calcification, coronary disease risk factors, C-reactive protein, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease events: the St. Francis Heart Study. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 46, 158–165 (2005).
Mohlenkamp, S. et al. Quantification of coronary atherosclerosis and inflammation to predict coronary events and all-cause mortality. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 57, 1455–1464 (2011).
Park, R. et al. Combined use of computed tomography coronary calcium scores and C-reactive protein levels in predicting cardiovascular events in nondiabetic individuals. Circulation 106, 2073–2077 (2002).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alexopoulos, N., Raggi, P. Coronary artery calcium is a better risk marker than hsCRP. Nat Rev Cardiol 8, 616–618 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2011.149
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2011.149