C-reactive protein was a moderate predictor of coronary heart disease.

M e t h o d s Design: Nested case–control study of participants in the Reykjavik Study. Setting: Reykjavik, Iceland. Patients: 2459 patients (mean age 56 y, 72% men) with major coronary events during mean 17.5-year follow-up were matched for year of recruitment, sex, and age with 3969 patients (mean age 56 y, 69% men) without a history of myocardial infarction (MI) (nested within the prospective cohort study). Risk factors: CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and von Willebrand factor were prespecified to compare extreme thirds of patients and controls with respect to the distribution of values in the controls. Adjustment was done for age, sex, year of enrollment, smoking status, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol level, triglyceride level, body mass index, FEV1, presence or absence of diabetes, and socioeconomic status. Laboratory measurements were done blinded to participants’ disease status. Outcomes: Major CHD events, nonfatal MI, and CHD death.