C-reactive Protein and Risk of Right Ventricular Dysfunction and Mortality in Patients With Acute Symptomatic Pulmonary Embolism

Abstract

Background: Right ventricle (RV) dysfunction increases the risk of death from pulmonary embolism (PE). C-reactive protein (CRP) might identify RV inflammation and dysfunction in patients with PE.

Methods: This cohort study enrolled consecutive stable patients with acute PE between 2017 and 2023. We stratified patients by quartiles of CRP. We evaluated the association between CRP quartiles and the presence of RV dysfunction, and used multivariable models to assess for an association between CRP and the outcomes of all-cause and PE-specific mortality during the 30 days of follow-up after PE diagnosis.

Results: The study included 633 stable patients with PE. Patients without RV dysfunction had significantly lower median (IQR) CRP levels compared with patients with RV dysfunction (n=509, 31.7 [10.0-76.4]mg/L vs n=124, 45.4 [16.0-111.4]mg/L; P=0.018). CRP showed a statistically significant positive association with the presence of RV dysfunction (P<0.01). On multivariable analysis, CRP level was not significantly associated with 30-day all-cause mortality (adjusted odds ratio [OR] per mg/L increment, 1.00; 95% CI, 1.00-1.01; P=0.095), but higher CRP was associated with significantly higher PE-related mortality (adjusted OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.01; P=0.026). Compared with patients in CRP quartile 1, patients in quartiles 2, 3, and 4 had a stepwise increase in the adjusted odds of 30-day all-cause death of 2.41 (P=0.148), 3.04 (P=0.062), and 3.15 (P=0.052), respectively.

Conclusions: As an indicator of RV dysfunction, CRP may improve risk stratification algorithms for hemodynamically stable patients with acute symptomatic PE.

Keywords: C-reactive protein; Prognosis; Pulmonary embolism; Right ventricle dysfunction.