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 (DeltaCRP). Twelve months follow-up data were obtained and clinical outcomes were compared with DeltaCRP. In receiver operating characteristics analyses, the cutoff point of DeltaCRP 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 DeltaCRP > 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 DeltaCRP. White blood cell count,
low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, peak
creatinine kinase-MB, and peak
troponin T were significantly elevated in patients with DeltaCRP > 3 mg/l than in those with < or =3 mg/l. There was significant correlation between DeltaCRP 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, DeltaCRP 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. DeltaCRP determinations may be of value for risk stratification after PCI.