Clinical significance of detecting homocysteine, C-reactive protein and ankle brachial index in elderly patients with lower limb artherosclerosis

Objective To explore the clinical significance of detecting homocysteine (Hcy), C-reactive protein (CRP)and ankle brachial index (ABI)in elderly patients with lower limb artherosclerosis.Methods A total of 85 elderly patients with lower limb artherosclerosis in our hos-pital from Feb.2007 to Oct.2010 were divided into plaque group (37 cases)and non-plaque group (48 cases)according to the intima-media thickness (IMT)detected with ultra-sound.And another 40 elderly patients with non-lower limb artherosclerosis served as control group.Hcy,hs-CRP and ABI characteristics were retrospectively analyzed among 3 groups and cardiovascular events were compared between plaque and non-plaque groups.Results Hcy and hs-CRP expression levels de-creased gradually whereas ABI increased gradually and there were significant differences among 3 groups (P <0.05 or P <0.01).The rates of cardiovascular events of plaque and non-plaque groups were 10.81% (4 /37)and 4.17% (2 /48),respectively,but the difference was not statistically sig-nificant (P >0.05).Conclusion Elderly patients with lower limb artherosclerosis have abnormal Hcy metabolism,and increased CRP expression and decreased ABI value can provide significant ref-erences for clinical diagnosis.