Aspirin
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
C-reactive protein is significant predictor of cardiac events only in patients not pretreated with aspirin, researchers say in April issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology. CRP, an inflammatory marker, is an acute-phase reactant in myocardial infarction and unstable angina. Simon Kennon, Bart's and the London NHS Trust, et al., conducted a prospective, cohort study of 304 coronary syndrome patients, 174 of whom were taking aspirin prior to admission. In pretreated patients, "CRP provided no useful information about cardiac risk. [CRP] concentrations tended to be lower...suggesting that the protection aspirin provided against ischemic myocardial injury...attenuated acute-phase inflammatory responses to the point that associations between CRP and ischemic events were lost," authors conclude