The objectives of the present study were to investigate 1) the putative association of common variations in the CHI3L1 locus with inter-individual serum YKL-40 levels and the prevalent odds ratio of MI and stroke, and 2) the putative association of SNPs and circulating YKL-40 levels with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality and with first-time incidence of MI, IHD and stroke over a 15 years period in 2656 individuals representative of the general population. This evidence concerns the gene CHI3L1 and Stroke.