The predictive value of CRP/albumin ratio (CAR) in the diagnosis of ischemia in myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the leading cause of mortality worldwide, and finding cheap and accurate screening tests is crucial. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin ratio (CAR) in the diagnosis of IHD using myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).

METHODS In this cross-sectional study, a total of 112 patients were investigated to find any relationship between CAR and myocardial ischemia by using myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. Data were analyzed using SPSS, with a P-value below 0.05 considered statistically significant.

RESULTS Eighty-eight patients had normal MPI. Twenty-two patients had some degree of myocardial ischemia in MPI. The normal MPI and pathological MPI groups were similar in terms of sex, weight, smoking, family history of IHD, albumin levels, diabetes mellitus status, hyperlipidemia, and chest pain type. The CRP, and CAR means in the patients with myocardial ischemia were significantly higher than those with normal MPI.

CONCLUSION Although the value of CAR was significantly higher in patients with myocardial ischemia compared to subjects with normal MPI and it was an independent predictor of IHD, the capability of CAR in diagnosing myocardial ischemia was not very strong with a sensitivity and specificity of about 60%.