Clinical chemistry
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The clinical relevance of very highly increased high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) concentrations (>10 mg/L) is incompletely understood. We examined the association between very highly increased hsCRP and risk of incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) events and all-cause mortality. ⋯ hsCRP >10 mg/L was a stronger predictor of clinical events than a conventional cut point of 3 mg/L. Very highly increased hsCRP may provide clinically meaningful prognostic information.
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Serial measurements of neurohormones have been shown to improve prognostication in the setting of acute heart failure (HF) or chronic HF without therapeutic intervention. We investigated the prognostic role of serial measurements of emerging neurohormones and BNP in a cohort of chronic HF patients undergoing increases in HF-specific therapy. ⋯ In pharmacologically unstable chronic HF patients, baseline values and follow-up measures of copeptin, midregional proadrenomedullin, C-terminal endothelin-1 precursor fragment, midregional proatrial natriuretic peptide, and B-type natriuretic peptide were equally predictive of all-cause mortality. Relative change of neurohormone values was noncontributory.