RESUMO
Objective: To determine high sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP] levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction [AMI] and its correlation with classical enzyme markers of myocardial damage. Study Design: Observational study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Emergency Medicine at King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh and Department of Physiology, from August 2010 to December 2011
Methodology: Consecutive eligible patients with either ST elevation myocardial infarction [STEMI] or non-ST elevation myocardial infarction [NSTEMI] who were admitted to the Emergency Department of King Khalid University Hospital were recruited. A total of 71 subjects were finally selected for the study. The hsCRP, Troponin I [Trop I], creatine kinase myocardial bound [CK-MB], aspartate aminotransferase [AST] and lactate dehydrogenase [LDH] concentrations of all patients with an acute myocardial infarction [AMI] were measured
Results: Among all patients 34 [47.9%] patients had diabetes mellitus, 21 [29.6%] were hypertensive, and 16 [22.5%] had no associated illness. Patients with STEMI had significantly higher levels of CKMB [p=0.0348], LDH [p=0.0471] and hsCRP [p=0.0231] compared to NSTEMI patients. While the differences were non-significant for Trop I [p=0.7022], AST [p=0.9729] and Lp[a] [p=0.5985]. Spearman's correlations revealed that CRP correlated significantly with Trop I, CK-MB and LDH. There was a significant predictive relationship of hsCRP with Trop I, LDH and CK-MB while with AST it was nonsignificant
Conclusion: High sensitivity CRP levels is a significant predictor of standard markers for myocardial damage and it may be a useful prognostic marker in acute coronary syndromes