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

Abstract Introduction: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the leading cause of mortality worldwide and finding cheap and accurate screening tests is of great value. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of CRP/albumin ratio (CAR) in the diagnosis of IHD using myocardial perfusion scans. 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. 22 patients had some degree of myocardial ischemia in MPI. While the normal MPI and abnormal MPI groups were similar in terms of sex, weight, smoking, family history of CAD, 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 normal subjects in 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 only 60%.