When Is a New Prediction Marker Useful?A Consideration of Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A₂ and C-Reactive Protein for Stroke Risk

Ischemic stroke is a common and often devastating condition that can cause significant disability or death. In light of the dire consequences of a completed stroke, the search for improved predictive models and new markers to identify patients at heightened risk is well justified. Such high-risk patients would be candidates for proven stroke-prevention therapies including aspirin,¹ antihypertensive medications, and HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A) reductase inhibitors.²