The Case for C-Reactive Protein as a Risk Marker for Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract

Letters16 March 2010The Case for C-Reactive Protein as a Risk Marker for Coronary Heart DiseaseNancy R. Cook, ScDNancy R. Cook, ScDFrom Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-152-6-201003160-00020 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:Buckley and colleagues (1) state that the utility of measuring C-reactive protein (CRP) is uncertain and conclude that routine screening by CRP levels cannot be recommended. The reasoning behind this conclusion, however, seems flawed. First, since the literature review in 2007, additional articles have been published, particularly ones featuring risk reclassification (including the Reynolds Risk Score for men [2] and the analysis of high-sensitivity CRP in the Framingham cohort [3]). The latter work should replace the cited negative study from Framingham, which did not use the high-sensitivity assay.Second, the authors cite a lack of evidence that ...