BACKGROUND Both C-reactive protein (CRP) and arterial stiffness are associated with the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study was performed to investigate whether a combination of these two measurements could improve cardiovascular risk stratification.

METHODS A total of 6572 consecutive subjects (mean age, 60.8 ± 11.8 years; female, 44.2%) who underwent both high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) measurement within 1 week were retrospectively analyzed. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), including cardiovascular death, acute myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, and stroke were assessed during the clinical follow-up.

RESULTS During a mean follow-up period of 3.75 years (interquartile range, 1.78-5.31 years), there were 182 cases of MACE (2.8%). The elevated baPWV (≥1505 cm/s) (hazard ratio (HR), 4.21; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.73-6.48; p < 0.001) and hs-CRP (≥3 mg/L) (HR, 1.57; 95% CI, 1.12-2.21; p < 0.001) levels were associated with MACE even after controlling for potential confounders. The combination of baPWV and hs-CRP further stratified the subjects' risk (subjects with low baPWV and hs-CRP vs. subjects with high baPWV and hs-CRP; HR, 7.08; 95% CI, 3.76-13.30; p < 0.001). Adding baPWV information to clinical factors and hs-CRP had an incremental prognostic value (global Chi-square score, from 126 to 167, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS The combination of hs-CRP and baPWV provided a better prediction of future CVD than either one by itself. Taking these two simple measurements simultaneously is clinically useful in cardiovascular risk stratification.