The aim of this study was to investigate the N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-proBNP) levels in the peripheral blood of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and to provide the basis for its application in the early diagnosis of ACS. A total of 440 patients admitted to the hospital for examination and treatment were enrolled, including 330 patients with ACS and 110 cases...

Although important gains have been made in the treatment of heart failure with pharmacological and device therapies, there is a need for new approaches that are safe and effective, particularly in the elderly. Targeting patients with stage A heart failure, those at high risk of developing clinical heart failure but without detectable structural heart disease, is a worthwhile strategy (2). Lifes...

BACKGROUND The objective of this report is to improve the quality of immunochemical measurements of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its N-terminal propeptide (NT-proBNP). The recommendations proposed are intended for use by manufacturers of commercial assays, by clinical laboratories using those assays, by clinical trial groups and research investigators, and by regulatory agencies, such a...

C ardiac transplantation is an important treatment option for those patients with end stage heart failure who have failed to respond to disease modifying treatment. However, cardiac transplantation is not without risk, with the one year mortality around 19%, and identifying patients at the highest risk of death is notoriously difficult. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the N-terminal portion...

Both BNP and NT-proBNP are considered to be gold standard biomarkers of HF. Both of these are also incorporated into the majority of the national and international cardiovascular therapy guidelines. However, despite this, our understanding of their very complex nature is still far from being complete and comprehensive. Moreover, the constant development of new approaches in patient care and the...

BACKGROUND Our hypothesis was that telehealth in combination with an optimised care program coordinated amongst care professionals in primary, secondary and tertiary care can achieve beneficial outcomes in heart failure. The objective was to evaluate the clinical effects of introduction of telehealth in an optimised care program in a community hospital in the north of the Netherlands. METHODS...

OBJECTIVES This prospective study tested whether the natriuretic peptides predict cardiac death among patients using beta-blocking therapy after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). BACKGROUND Natriuretic peptides have provided prognostic information after AMI, but their predictive value has not been well established in the era of beta-blocker use. METHODS A series of 521 patients (mean ag...

The concept of the heart as an endocrine organ arises from the observation that the atrial cardiomyocytes in the mammalian heart display a phenotype that is partly that of endocrine cells. Investigations carried out between 1971 and 1983 characterised, by virtue of its natriuretic properties, a polypeptide referred to atrial natriuretic factor (ANF). Another polypeptide isolated from brain in 1...

UNLABELLED The evaluation of natriuretic peptides has become increasingly valuable in a clinical setting, where information is often needed promptly. OBJECTIVES To compare the usefulness of the recently released Roche Cardiac Reader NT-proBNP assay against the Roche Elecsys NT-proBNP laboratory system in a clinical setting. DESIGN AND RESULTS Blood samples from 440 patients, who were either...