Relation of markers of inflammation (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, and leukocyte count) and statin therapy to long-term mortality in patients with angiographically proven coronary artery disease

We evaluated a possible interaction between statins and inflammation in 1,246 patients with angiographically diagnosed coronary artery disease. Four different inflammatory markers were determined: high, sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (p = 0.001), fibrinogen (p = 0.006), von Willebrand factor (p = 0.006), and leukocyte count (p = 0.03); these levels were significantly higher among the 88 patients who died of cardiac causes during follow-up (median 2.9 years) than among survivors. In a multivariate backward stepwise Cox regression mode, only hs-CRP was evaluated to be a significant predictor of death from coronary artery disease. This prediction was lost in statin-treated patients. Com…