Performance Of B-type Natriuretic Peptide Research Articles

Left Atrial Remodeling Related to Disproportionately Low B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in Acute Heart Failure Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

The diagnostic performance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) for acute heart failure (HF) is impaired in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Increased AF burden in HF is associated with left atrial (LA) remodeling. Recent studies have revealed that LA remodeling may affect LV filling. We hypothesized that LA remodeling affects BNP secretion in acute HF conditions. The study investigated the clinical impact of LA remodeling on admission BNP levels in acute HF patients with and without AF. Consecutive acute HF hospitalized patients (n=899) were divided into groups with (n=382) or without AF (n=507) and subdivided into disproportionately low BNP (LB) (≤200pg/ml), medium BNP (200 to 600pg/ml) and high BNP (≥600pg/ml) subgroups. The AF group had a higher proportion of patients with LB than the non-AF group (23.6% vs 16.6%, p=0.009). BNP levels in both groups were positively correlated with LV end-diastolic volume and negatively correlated with LV ejection fraction in both groups. In contrast, BNP was positively correlated with LA volume index in the non-AF group, but negatively correlated in the AF group. The survival rates were significantly higher in the LB group than in the other groups in non-AF. Conversely, there were no significant differences across all groups in AF patients. In conclusion, in patients with acute HF and AF, disproportionately low BNP levels are associated with LA structural remodeling and poor prognosis.

Diagnostic properties of natriuretic peptides and opportunities for personalized thresholds for detecting heart failure in primary care.

Heart failure (HF) is a prevalent syndrome with considerable disease burden, healthcare utilization and costs. Timely diagnosis is essential to improve outcomes. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) in detecting HF in primary care. Our second aim was to explore if personalized thresholds (using age, sex, or other readily available parameters) would further improve diagnostic accuracy over universal thresholds. A retrospective study was performed among patients without prior HF who underwent natriuretic peptide (NP) testing in the Amsterdam General Practice Network between January 2011 and December 2021. HF incidence was based on registration out to 90 days after NP testing. Diagnostic accuracy was evaluated with AUROC, sensitivity and specificity based on guideline-recommended thresholds (125 ng/L for NT-proBNP and 35 ng/L for BNP). We used inverse probability of treatment weighting to adjust for confounding. A total of 15,234 patients underwent NP testing, 6,870 with BNP (4.5 % had HF), and 8,364 with NT-proBNP (5.7 % had HF). NT-proBNP was more accurate than BNP, with an AUROC of 89.9 % (95 % CI: 88.4-91.2) vs. 85.9 % (95 % CI 83.5-88.2), with higher sensitivity (95.3 vs. 89.7 %) and specificity (59.1 vs. 58.0 %). Differentiating NP cut-off by clinical variables modestly improved diagnostic accuracy for BNP and NT-proBNP compared with a universal threshold. NT-proBNP outperforms BNP for detecting HF in primary care. Personalized instead of universal diagnostic thresholds led to modest improvement.

Abstract P594: Cardiac Natriuretic Peptides for Diagnosis of Covert AtrialFibrillation After Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies

Background and purpose: Detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) after acute ischemic stroke is pivotal for the timely initiation of anticoagulation to prevent recurrence. Besides heart rhythm monitoring, various blood biomarkers have been suggested as complimentary diagnostic tools for AF. We aimed to summarize data on the performance of cardiac natriuretic peptides for the diagnosis of covert AF after acute ischemic stroke and to assess their potential clinical utility. Methods: We searched PubMed and Embase for prospective studies reporting the performance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for the diagnosis of covert AF after acute ischemic stroke. Summary diagnostic performance measures were pooled using bivariate meta-analysis with random-effects model. Results: We included six studies focusing on BNP (n = 1930) and three studies focusing on NT-proBNP (n = 623). BNP had a sensitivity of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.64-0.93), a specificity of 0.74 (0.67-0.81), a positive likelihood ratio of 3.2 (2.6-4.0), and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.23 (0.11-0.49). NT-proBNP had a sensitivity of 0.91 (0.65-0.98), a specificity of 0.77 (0.52-0.91), a positive likelihood ratio of 3.9 (1.8-8.7), and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.12 (0.03-0.48). Considering a pre-test probability of 20%, BNP and NT-proBNP had post-test probabilities of 45% and 50%. Conclusions: NT-proBNP has a better performance than BNP for the diagnosis of covert AF after acute ischemic stroke. Both biomarkers have low post-test probabilities and may not be used as a stand-alone decision-making tool for the diagnosis of covert AF in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, they may be useful for a screening strategy aiming to select patients for long-term monitoring of the heart rhythm.

B-type natriuretic peptide testing in the emergency setting for managing acute dyspnea.

The performance of B-type natriuretic peptide to accurately diagnose dyspnea of cardiac origin has been widely proved. However, its impact in clinical practice is less clear. We searched in Epistemonikos, the largest database of systematic reviews in health, which is maintained by screening multiple information sources, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, among others. We extracted data from the systematic reviews, reanalyzed data of primary studies, conducted a meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table using the GRADE approach. We identified two systematic reviews including five studies overall, of which all were randomized trials. We concluded the use of B-type natriuretic peptide for the management of acute dyspnea in the emergency setting probably leads to a small reduction in the need for hospitalization. Additionally, it may slightly reduce mortality and intensive care unit admission, but the certainty of the evidence is low.

Sensitivity and Specificity of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in Diagnosing Heart Failure in Pregnancy

To evaluate the performance of B-type natriuretic peptide as a diagnostic tool for heart failure in pregnant or postpartum women with singleton gestations. We conducted a retrospective study of diagnostic accuracy. We identified pregnant and postpartum women with B-type natriuretic peptide and echocardiography performed at an obstetric teaching hospital from 2007 to 2018. Women with known cardiac disease or multiple gestation were excluded. A panel of two cardiovascular disease experts, blinded to B-type natriuretic peptide values, determined the diagnosis of heart failure by consensus. Their judgement was based on detailed clinical features and parameters at the time of presentation with suspected heart failure. Where consensus could not be reached, differences were adjudicated by a third expert. A receiver operating characteristic curve estimated the sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and negative likelihood ratio of B-type natriuretic peptide at various thresholds. In total, 22 pregnant and 38 postpartum women were included in the cohort. Average age was 32±6.8 years. The most common clinical features at the time of presentation with suspected heart failure included preeclampsia (33/60, 55%), dyspnea (50/60, 83%), chest discomfort (34/60, 58%), and bilateral lower extremity edema (32/60, 53%). In total, 39 (65%) women had heart failure. The median B-type natriuretic peptide level was 326 pg/mL (interquartile range 200.5-390.5) in women with heart failure, as compared with 75.5 pg/mL (interquartile range 19-245) in women without heart failure (P<.01). The estimated optimal B-type natriuretic peptide cutoff was 111 (95% CI 78-291) pg/mL. Using this threshold, 45 (75%) women had an elevated B-type natriuretic peptide, which yielded a 95% sensitivity (95% CI 83-99), 62% specificity (95% CI 38-82), a positive likelihood ratio of 2.5 (95% CI 1.4-4.3), and a negative likelihood ratio of 0.1 (95% CI 0.0-0.3) for heart failure. B-type natriuretic peptide is a useful clinical tool to evaluate pregnant and postpartum women with suspected heart failure.

Performance of BNP and NT-proBNP for diagnosis of heart failure in primary care patients: a systematic review.

National and international guidelines have been published recommending the use of natriuretic peptides as an aid to the diagnosis of heart failure (HF) in acute settings; however, few specific recommendations exist for governing the use of these peptides in primary care populations. To summarize the available data relevant to the diagnosis of HF in primary care patient population, we systematically reviewed the literature to identify original articles that investigated the diagnostic accuracy of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) in primary care settings. The search yielded 25,864 articles in total: 12 investigating BNP and 20 investigating NT-proBNP were relevant to our objective and included in the review. QUADAS-2 and GRADE were used to assess the quality of the included articles. Diagnostic data were pooled based on three cutpoints: lowest and optimal, as chosen by study authors, and manufacturers' suggested. The effect of various determinants (e.g., age, gender, BMI, and renal function) on diagnostic performance was also investigated. Pooled sensitivity and specificity of BNP and NT-proBNP using the lowest [0.85 (sensitivity) and 0.54 (specificity)], optimal (0.80 and 0.61), and manufacturers' (0.74 and 0.67) cutpoints showed good performance for diagnosing HF. Similar performance was seen for NT-proBNP: lowest (0.90 and 0.50), optimal (0.86 and 0.58), and manufacturers' (0.82 and 0.58) cutpoints. Overall, we rated the strength of evidence as high because further studies will be unlikely to change the estimates diagnostic performance.

Impact of Systemic Hypertension on the Diagnostic Performance of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in Patients With Acute Dyspnea

Hypertension may affect the diagnostic performance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP). The objective of the present study was to assess the impact of a history of hypertension or blood pressure elevation on admission on the diagnostic performance of BNP in the diagnosis of heart failure (HF) in patients with acute dyspnea. BNP levels were measured using a rapid point-of-care device in 1,586 patients with acute dyspnea. In patients with HF, BNP levels did not differ between those with and without histories of hypertension. Conversely, in patients without HF, a history of hypertension was associated with higher median BNP levels (38 pg/ml [interquartile range 13 to 119] vs 21 pg/ml [interquartile range 7 to 64], p <0.001). The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves were 0.88 and 0.93 for those with and without histories of hypertension, respectively (p <0.001). Blood pressure elevation on admission did not affect the diagnostic accuracy of BNP (areas under the curve 0.90 in the 2 groups). In conclusion, although a history of hypertension is associated with higher BNP levels in patients with acute dyspnea without HF, the impact on the overall diagnostic performance of BNP is modest. Accordingly, BNP performs well as an indicator of HF in patients presenting in emergency departments regardless of a history of hypertension or elevated blood pressure on admission.

B-type natriuretic peptide is related to cardiac function and prognosis in hospitalized patients with decompensated cirrhosis

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations are high in cirrhosis, possibly related to volume status and cirrhotic cardiomyopathy. The prognostic significance of BNP in cirrhosis is unknown. We aimed to evaluate (i) the influence of haemodynamic parameters and volaemia, assessed by impedance cardiography (ICG), in BNP levels, (ii) the performance of BNP as a prognostic marker, in a cohort of cirrhotic patients. Patients consecutively hospitalized with decompensated cirrhosis during 1 year were evaluated. At admission, ICG and BNP measurements were performed in 83 patients (median age 56 years; median Child-Pugh score=10). The 70 patients discharged were followed for the occurrence of death within 6 months. Median BNP levels were 130.3 (65.2-363.3) pg/ml. Independent BNP predictors in multivariate linear regression analysis were cardiac output, age and haemoglobin (R(2)=36.7%). The 24 patients with cardiac systolic dysfunction, defined by low cardiac output, had higher BNP concentrations than the other patients (230.8 vs 98.5 pg/ml, P=0.003). BNP levels above median were associated with an increased occurrence of death within 6 months of discharge (log rank P=0.023). Cardiac output and BNP were predictors of survival in univariate Cox regression analysis. Only BNP remained independently related to the outcome in multivariate analysis [hazard ratio=2.86 (1.11-7.38), P=0.03]. BNP levels in cirrhosis reflect cardiac systolic function and non-cardiac variables that should be considered in their interpretation. BNP is an independent predictor of medium-term survival in advanced cirrhosis, suggesting its utility in risk stratification of decompensated cirrhotic patients.

Screening the population for left ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular systolic dysfunction using natriuretic peptides: Results from the Dallas Heart Study

Identification of individuals in the community with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) or left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) may allow earlier initiation of disease-modifying treatment. We performed a comprehensive evaluation of the screening performance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-proBNP) for LVSD or LVH. In 2,429 subjects without a history of heart failure, myocardial infarction, valvular abnormalities, or a serum creatinine >2.0 mg/dL enrolled in the Dallas Heart Study, measurement of BNP and NT-proBNP and cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging were performed. B-type natriuretic peptide and NT-proBNP were robustly associated with magnetic resonance imaging-defined LVH and LVSD (ejection fraction <55%) among men and women (P < .0001 for each). In the overall population, neither test discriminated well for LVH or LVSD (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC] <0.7). Among women, no differences in AUROC were observed between BNP and NT-proBNP. Among men, AUROCs were similar between BNP and NT-proBNP in the overall population, but among subgroups age 50 or older, or with hypertension, the AUROCs for NT-proBNP (0.73-0.79) were higher than for BNP (0.63-0.69, P < .05 for each comparison). Compared with subjects with isolated BNP elevation (>97.5th percentile), those with isolated NT-proBNP elevation had worse renal function and more LVH and coronary calcium (P < .05 for each). Overall, neither BNP nor NT-proBNP accurately discriminated subjects with LVH or LVSD in this predominately young and healthy population-based cohort. However, among high-risk men, NT-proBNP performed slightly better than BNP and comparably with other routinely used screening tests such as prostate-specific antigen measurement for prostate cancer.

Diagnostic accuracy of BNP and NT-proBNP in patients presenting to acute care settings with dyspnea: A systematic review

Objective We sought to compare the diagnostic performance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP measurements in patients presenting to acute care settings with dyspnea, a common presenting symptom of heart failure. Design and methods We conducted a systematic review of the literature. For all included studies, we applied the QUADAS 14-question quality assessment tool for systematic reviews of diagnostic accuracy and abstracted the data for every published cut point. Results We screened 4338 studies and included nine in the meta-analysis. All 9 studies scored positively on at least 50% of the QUADAS questions. The pooled estimates of sensitivity and specificity were the same for the BNP studies (0.97 (95% CI: 0.96, 0.98) and 0.70 (95% CI: 0.56, 0.85)) as for the NT-proBNP studies (0.95 (95% CI: 0.90, 1.01) and 0.72 (95% CI: 0.53, 0.90)). Tests for heterogeneity were significant in both subgroups: BNP ( I 2 = 97.9%, p < 0.001) and NT-proBNP ( I 2 = 87.5%, p < 0.001). Similar overall results were found for the likelihood and diagnostic odds ratios. Conclusions BNP and NT-proBNP have very similar diagnostic performance characteristics and can be used to rule out heart failure as a cause of dyspnea in the acute clinical setting. However, there is no easily identifiable optimum cut point value for each peptide.

Impact of Atrial Fibrillation on the Diagnostic Performance of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Concentration in Dyspneic Patients: An Analysis From the Breathing Not Properly Multinational Study

This study was designed to assess the diagnostic performance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in the diagnosis of acute congestive heart failure (CHF) in patients with permanent/paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) presenting with acute dyspnea. It is unknown to what extent AF affects the diagnostic performance of BNP in patients presenting with acute dyspnea. We studied 1,431 patients drawn from a cohort of patients (n = 1,586) with acute dyspnea who had BNP levels measured on arrival. Patients were prospectively classified according to the presence or absence of permanent/paroxysmal AF. In total, 292 patients had permanent/paroxysmal AF. In patients without HF, permanent/paroxysmal AF was associated with significantly higher BNP levels (p = 0.001). Conversely, in patients with HF, BNP levels did not differ significantly between patients with and without AF (p = 0.533). A BNP cutoff value of 100 pg/ml had a specificity of 40% and 79% for the diagnosis of acute HF in patients with and without AF, respectively. The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves were 0.84 (95% confidence interval 0.78 to 0.89) and 0.91 (95% confidence interval 0.89 to 0.93) for patients with and without AF, respectively. In patients without, but not in those with HF, the presence of AF is associated with higher circulating BNP levels, suggesting that a higher diagnostic threshold should be used in patients with AF.