Kaplan-Meier curves (Fig 1) reflect the difference in event-free survival for the endpoints death from CHD or incidence of HF according to the quartiles of GDF-15, CRP and Cystatin C. Kaplan-Meier curves showed increasing event rates for both endpoints with increasing GDF-15 levels for a median follow-up period of 27.53 years. The gene discussed is GDF15; the disease is coronary artery disorder.