Plasma Calprotectin Predicts Mortality in Patients with ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction Treated with Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Background: We investigated the predictive value of plasma calprotectin levels for mortality in patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) successfully treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI). Methods and Results: Plasma calprotectin levels were measured in 141 STEMI patients with acute occlusion of the left anterior descending artery and treated with pPCI. The plasma calprotectin levels were significantly higher in the STEMI patients compared with the 42 healthy controls (P < 0.001). Furthermore, plasma calprotectin levels were higher in the 13 STEMI patients who died after a median follow‐up period of 12 months compared to the STEMI patients who survived: 209 μg/L versus 174 μg/L (P < 0.001). After adjustment for age, sex, complex lesions, and peak creatine kinase MB in a multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, the relative risk of mortality was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.1–1.4) per 10 μg/L increase in calprotectin (P = 0.001). Furthermore, for patients with plasma calprotectin >177 μg/L the relative risk of mortality was 11.11 (95% CI: 2.2–56.0) (P = 0.004). Conclusion: Plasma calprotectin levels, determined at admission in STEMI patients successfully treated with pPCI, predict mortality over a period of 12 months, indicating that plasma calprotectin may be a new important prognostic biomarker in acute ischemic heart disease. (J Interven Cardiol 2010;23:123‐129)