Effectiveness of turbidity method C-reaction protein in prognosis for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Objective To assess the effectiveness of serum C-reactive protein(CRP)in the prognosis of the acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods Sixty-five patients with COPD were taken as study subjects.Their serum CRP concentration was measured on the second day of hospitalization.According to the CRP levels measured,the study subjects were divided into two groups,CRP positive group(CRP≥8 mg/L,34 cases)and CRP negative group(CRP＜8 mg/L,31 cases).In the subsequent one year,the two groups were observed and compared in terms of the instances of the acute exacerbation of COPD.Results According tO the retrospective observation,in the duration of one year,there were 21 cases of acute exacerbation of COPD in CRP positive group and 14 cases in CRP negative group.The difference in acute exacerbation between two groups is insignificant(P＞0.05).Conclusions The initial measurement of serum CRP concentration in the COPD patients by the immunity-turbidity method(on the second day of hospitalization)has proven to be ineffective in the prognosis for acute exacerbation of COPD in one year. Key words: C-reactive protein; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Prognosis