Does the risk factor profile have predictive value for the site of atherosclerosis?
- Correspondence to: Professor H Sinzinger Institute for Diagnosis and Treatment of Atherosclerosis and Lipid Disorders (ATHOS), Nadlergasse 1, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; helmut.sinzingermeduniwien.ac.at
Inflammatory markers are significantly higher in patients with carotid atherosclerosis than in those with middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarcts
Atherosclerosis is increasingly linked with inflammation, a claim already made by Rudolf Virchow in 1856. Vascular biology has demonstrated that inflammation also plays a key role in stroke development. The best examined inflammatory marker is C-reactive protein (CRP). High sensitivity (hs)-CRP predicts the risk not reflected by traditional risk factors1 for stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). Interleukin-6 is an even better predictor than CRP and correlates with stroke severity, infarct volume, and long term outcome and is an independent predictor of stroke2; hs-CRP is a more valuable predictor than low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL). As hs-CRP and LDL are additive predictors, they identify different risk factors.
The CRP gene markedly accelerates atherosclerosis, …
