Expert: Neha Dahiya MD - 6/5/2009

Question
I have read that elevated hs-crp can be an indicator of cardiac risk, but I had mine drawn for an ortho consult due to bilateral knee pain, instability, following an MRI that showed a baker cyst (right knee), medial meniscus fraying (both knees) and fluid build up behind the knee cap(left knee)  The hs-crp was 6.12, my WBC were 11.9H, my monocytes were very high (I do not recall the exact #) and leukocytes were elevated. Should I just take the results as they pertain to inflammation in my knees, or should I try to find out if I have an infection, high risk for cardiac event, or anything else.  It seems that the elevations can all be due to my knee injuries, but I am concerned about cardiac health as well, as I had viral pericarditis about 3 months ago.

Answer
Hello Jolene:

hs CRP is indeed used as a marker for assessing the risk of cardiac disease. However it has to be interpreted in combination with other indicators required to assess the risk like - lipid profile (raised cholesterol and triglycerides), high blood pressure, history of smoking etc.

Since you have inflammation in the joints this raised CRP becomes a false indicator of risk for cardiac disease.
Basically hs CRP is a marker for inflammation and is raised in any form of tissue injury.

you should wait for the knee pathology to subside and heal and then repeat the hs CRP