C-reactive protein as a prognostic tool in cardiovascular practices: should CRP testing be ordered along with lipid profiles?

CRP has a graded, dose-response relationship to the occurrence of clinical cardiovascular events that remains after adjustment for other risk factors, with moderately strong associations between the lower and upper tertiles (RR≈2). It may have clinical utility in improving the estimation of absolute risks of patients with a calculated ten-year risk between 10 and 20%. Individuals at low risk (<10% per 10 years) will be unlikely to have a high risk identified through CRP testing. Additional prospective studies or new statistical analysis of previous studies are needed to establish the added predictive value of CRP above that of currently established risk factors. Thus, currently available evidence suggests that CRP testing should not be ordered along with lipid profiles.