CVD Risk Prediction Improved by Homocysteine

By Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: August 22, 2011 Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Risk stratification for cardiovascular disease (CVD) improved significantly with the addition of homocysteine level to the Framingham Risk Score, investigators reported. A homocysteine level >15 µmol/L predicted as much as a 172% increased risk of CVD across two disparate cohorts. In particular, the addition of homocysteine to traditional risk factors led to reclassification of about 20% of patients in the intermediate-risk category, as reported in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology./.../