Methods: A total of 78 patients (54 males, 24 females; mean age 60.4±9.4 years; range 37 to 78 years) with previous history of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery who underwent coronary angiography based on predetermined objective clinical criteria were included. Risk factors leading to atherosclerosis were questioned and biochemical tests were studied in all patients. A 50% or more stenosis in at least one of the saphenous vein grafts was defined as SVGD. The patients were divided in two groups according to the presence of SVGD (group 1), and the absence of SVGD (group 2).

Results: When we compared the demographic characteristics and laboratory findings of both groups, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio, uric acid (UA) and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher, while HDL cholesterol level was significantly lower in group 1. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that BMI, UA and hs-CRP levels were independent predictors of SVGD (hs-CRP OR: 1.522, p<0.01, UA OR: 1.48, p=0.01, BMI OR: 1.31, p=0.04). The ROC analysis demonstrated that a 0.8 mg/dL hs-CRP cut-off value indicated SVGH with a 80% sensitivity and 85% specificity rate.

Conclusion: In our study, hs-CRP was found to be the most powerful predictor of SVGD. High-sensitivity-C-reactive protein is a noninvasive, reliable and useful parameter in the prediction and monitoring of SVGD.