CRP and diabetes mellitus: As described in the Methods section, variables with p < 0.1 were defined as significant in the univariable Cox analysis, in which age (HR 1.098), BVAS (HR 1.077), type 2 diabetes mellitus (HR 3.962), ESR (HR 1.022), CRP (HR 1.019), cMDA (HR 1.006), and cMDA ≥ 221.7 ng/mL (HR 11.098) were associated with all-cause mortality during follow-up.