Does the risk factor profile have predictive value for the site of atherosclerosis

Inflammatory markers are significantly higher in patients with carotid atherosclerosis than in those with middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarcts Atherosclerosis is increasingly linked with inflammation, a claim already made by Rudolf Virchow in 1856. Vascular biology has demonstrated that inflammation also plays a key role in stroke development. The best examined inflammatory marker is C-reactive protein (CRP). High sensitivity (hs)-CRP predicts the risk not reflected by traditional risk factors1 for stroke and coronary heart disease (CHD). Interleukin-6 is an even better predictor than CRP and correlates with stroke severity, infarct volume, and long term outcome and is an independent predictor of stroke2; hs-CRP is a more valuable predictor than low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL). As hs-CRP and LDL are additive predictors, they identify different risk factors. The CRP gene markedly accelerates atherosclerosis, …