We evaluated the interaction between inflammation and survival benefit from statin therapy in patients who had acute myocardial infarction. Although 1-year mortality did not differ between patients who used statin therapy and those who did not, among patients who had C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations in the lower 2 tertiles (<2.9 mg/L), 1-year mortality was higher in patients who used statin therapy than in those who did not within the highest CRP-defined tertile (> or =2.9 mg/L). Statin therapy significantly decreased the hazard ratio for 1-year mortality in patients who had high CRP levels to approximately the hazard present for patients who had low CRP levels and did not receive statin therapy.