CRP
CRP = C-reactive protein
OVERVIEW
- discovered in 1930 by studying Streptococcus pneumoniae infection -> named for its ability to bind to the somatic C-polysaccharide of such bacterial
- belongs to the family of pentraxins (calcium dependent ligand-binding plasma proteins)
Normal range
- rapidly synthesised by the liver in proportional response to the inflammatory stimulus
- 90th percentile = 3mg/L
- 99th percentile = 10mg/L
- t1/2 = 20 hours
FUNCTION
- proinflammatory activities
- anti-inflammatory activities
- has calcium-dependent binding properties and biological functions related to innate immune response
Elevated by:
- bacterial infection
- fungal infection
- autoimmune diseases
- organ tissue necrosis
- severe trauma
- surgery
- neoplasia
- acute coronary syndromes (associated with poor prognosis)
- has been looked at also with risk of developing cardiovascular disease – measure of vascular inflammation involved in atherogenesis
CLINICAL USE
- fast
- easy
- monitoring of inflammatory activity
- use like temperature (response to therapy)
- can recognise the onset of nosocomial infection in ICU with serial results
Critical Care
Compendium
Chris is an Intensivist and ECMO specialist at the Alfred ICU in Melbourne. He is also a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at Monash University. He is a co-founder of the Australia and New Zealand Clinician Educator Network (ANZCEN) and is the Lead for the ANZCEN Clinician Educator Incubator programme. He is on the Board of Directors for the Intensive Care Foundation and is a First Part Examiner for the College of Intensive Care Medicine. He is an internationally recognised Clinician Educator with a passion for helping clinicians learn and for improving the clinical performance of individuals and collectives.
After finishing his medical degree at the University of Auckland, he continued post-graduate training in New Zealand as well as Australia’s Northern Territory, Perth and Melbourne. He has completed fellowship training in both intensive care medicine and emergency medicine, as well as post-graduate training in biochemistry, clinical toxicology, clinical epidemiology, and health professional education.
He is actively involved in in using translational simulation to improve patient care and the design of processes and systems at Alfred Health. He coordinates the Alfred ICU’s education and simulation programmes and runs the unit’s education website, INTENSIVE. He created the ‘Critically Ill Airway’ course and teaches on numerous courses around the world. He is one of the founders of the FOAM movement (Free Open-Access Medical education) and is co-creator of litfl.com, the RAGE podcast, the Resuscitology course, and the SMACC conference.
His one great achievement is being the father of three amazing children.
On Twitter, he is @precordialthump.
| INTENSIVE | RAGE | Resuscitology | SMACC