The Study
Clinical impact of systemic inflammation across different high-sensitivity C-reactive protein cutoffs in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.
This study looked at people who had a heart procedure and noticed that those with higher levels of a certain blood marker had more heart problems later. But it didn't change anything on purpose—it just watched what happened—so we can't say the marker caused the problems, just that they often happened together.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Doctors checked a blood marker called hsCRP in patients who got stents to see if it could predict heart attacks or strokes within a year.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 552 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even moderate inflammation (2–3 mg/L) raises heart risks after stent surgery — so it’s not just very high levels that matter.
- 2Patients with hsCRP above 3 mg/L had a 4.9% chance of heart attack/stroke/death in a year; those below 2 mg/L had 2.6%.
- 3Those between 2 and 3 mg/L had a 44% higher risk than those below 2 mg/L.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Atherosclerosis
Year
2025
Authors
A. Oliva, Mark Shneyderman, M. Gitto, S. Sartori, B. Vogel, Benjamin Bay, Kenneth F. Smith, P. Moreno, J. Sweeny, F. D. di Muro, G. Stefanini, A. Kini, G. Dangas, Samin K Sharma, R. Mehran
Related Content
Claims (4)
Patients with coronary artery disease who have higher levels of a blood marker called high-sensitivity C-reactive protein before undergoing heart procedure are more likely to experience a heart attack, stroke, or death within one year than those with lower levels of this marker.
Patients with coronary artery disease who have high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels between 2 and 3 mg/L before undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention have a 44% higher rate of major heart or brain events within one year than those with levels below 2 mg/L.
For patients with coronary artery disease who have undergone angioplasty, measuring C-reactive protein at 2 mg/L or 3 mg/L predicts the risk of serious heart or brain events within one year with the same level of accuracy.
Higher levels of hsCRP in the blood are consistently found in individuals with systemic inflammation and are associated with worse health outcomes.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.