East Asian population has a low level of inflammation compared with Western population. The prognostic implication of residual inflammatory risk (RIR) remains uncertain in East Asians.

This study sought to provide an analysis to estimate early-determined RIR and its association with clinical outcomes in East Asian patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

In an East Asian registry including patients with CAD undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (n = 4,562), RIR status was determined by measuring high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) serially at admission and at 1-month follow-up. Patients were stratified into 4 groups according to hsCRP criteria (≥2 mg/L): 1) persistent low RIR (low_{on admission}-low_{1 month}: 51.0%); 2) fortified RIR (low_{on admission}-high _{1 month}: 10.3%); 3) attenuated RIR (high_{on admission}-low_{1 month}: 20.5%); and 4) persistent high RIR (high_{on admission}-high_{1 month}: 18.3%). The risks of all-cause death, ischemic events, and major bleeding were evaluated.

In our cohort, median levels of hsCRP were significantly decreased over time (1.3 to 0.9 mg/L; P < 0.001). Compared with hsCRP on admission, hsCRP at 1 month showed the greater associations with all-cause death and ischemic event. During clinical follow-up, risks of clinical events were significantly different across the groups (log-rank test, P < 0.001). Compared with other RIR groups, persistent high RIR showed the higher risk for all-cause death (HR_adjusted, 1.92; 95% CI: 1.44 to 2.55; P < 0.001), ischemic events (HR_adjusted, 1.26; 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.56; P = 0.032), and major bleeding (HR_adjusted, 1.98; 95% CI: 1.30 to 2.99; P < 0.001), respectively.

Approximately one-fifth of East Asian patients with CAD have persistent high RIR, which shows the close association with occurrence of ischemic and bleeding events. (Gyeongsang National University Hospital Registry [GNUH]; NCT04650529)