High sensitivity C-reactive protein in chronic heart failure: patient characteristics, phenotypes, and mode of death

Aims:\ud \ud Plasma concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) are often raised in chronic heart failure (CHF) and might indicate inflammatory processes that could be a therapeutic target. We aimed to study the associations between hsCRP, mode and cause of death in patients with CHF.\ud Methods and results:\ud \ud We enrolled 4423 patients referred to a heart failure clinic serving a local population. CHF was defined as relevant symptoms or signs with either a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction 125 pg/mL). The median [interquartile range (IQR)] plasma hsCRP for patients diagnosed with CHF (n = 3756) was 3.9 (1.6–8.5) mg/L and 2.7 (1.3–5.1) mg/L for those who were not (n = 667; P