Abstract
Background Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) plasma is the only suitable specimen recommended by the manufacturers to be used in the determination of BNP. It appears crucial to evaluate if more conventional heparin plasma samples could be reliably used for BNP determination. Aim of this study was to evaluate the use of heparin plasma sample for BNP determination. Methods Venous blood from 42 consecutive patients admitted at the division of cardiology was collected in two test tubes, with K 2-EDTA (Group 1) and lithium heparin with gel separator (Group 2) and analysed within 20 min of blood collection. Results Statistical analysis showed a significant difference between Group 1 and Group 2 ( p < 0.0001). Sample collected in K 2-EDTA showed a significant underestimation when compared to lithium–heparin. Conclusions Our data showed that BNP could not be dosed on different collection tubes without altering the results. In our experimental conditions, interestingly we found that BNP levels are significantly lower if measured in EDTA plasma.
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