Comparison of C-Reactive Protein Levels Before and After Coronary Stenting and Restenosis Among Patients Treated With Sirolimus-Eluting Versus Bare Metal Stents

We prospectively studied the inflammatory response to coronary stenting (calculated as the difference between the highest postprocedural C-reactive protein [CRP] and baseline CRP levels [ΔCRP]) and restenosis in 301 patients who received a sirolimus-eluting stent (n = 149) or a bare stent (n = 152) in the setting of a randomized trial. Median values of ΔCRP were 3.1 mg/L in the sirolimus-eluting stent group and 3.0 mg/L in the bare stent group (p = 0.71). In the sirolimus-eluting group, restenotic rates were 9.7% in the subgroup with ΔCRP higher than the median and 11.5% in the subgroup with ΔCRP no higher than the median (p = 0.37). In the bare stent group, restenotic rates were 28.6% in the subgroup with ΔCRP higher than the median and 15.4% in the subgroup with ΔCRP no higher than the median (p = 0.04).