B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino-terminal pro-BNP (NTproBNP) plasma levels are commonly high at the early phase of septic shock and have been suggested to be prognostic markers for this condition. It is uncertain, however, whether this increase reflects sepsis related cardiac dysfunction. In a recent issue of Critical Care, Mokart and coworkers showed the accuracy of NTproBNP in predi...

BACKGROUND Doppler echocardiographic studies of the left ventricle (LV) function in patients with β-Thalassemia Major (β-TM) had shown different patterns of systolic and diastolic dysfunctions associated with abnormal serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP). AIM This cross-sectional study was designed to study the LV systolic and diastolic functions and correlate that with serum level of N-term...

conclusions the hormonal levels were low in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy. however, the prognostic significance of different hormonal deficiencies was not clear in our study populations who were receiving standard therapies for heart failure and had a relatively stable clinical condition. results except for testosterone level, the levels of gh, igf-1, t3, and t4 concentrations...

BACKGROUND The correlation between impedance cardiography (ICG) and 6 min walk distance (6MWD) in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients remains unknown. METHODS We recruited 49 subjects in the study (21 AF patients and 28 patients without AF) and estimated hemodynamic parameters: cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), stroke volume index (SVI), left stroke work (LSW), left stroke work index (LS...

The risk of developing heart failure (HF) with a reduced and preserved ejection fraction is known to increase pre-diabetes diabetic mellitus (DM). Natriuretic peptides (NPs) have been shown be an important tool for assessing the cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in people Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), regardless HF characteristics. Elevated levels NPs were associated increased readmission HF, all-cause m...

Circulating levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and NH(2)-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP) increase in response to volume overload and help in the differential diagnosis of acute heart failure. Elevated plasma BNP levels are observed also in sepsis and do not always correspond to left ventricular dysfunction. Here, we investigated plasma NT-proBNP fluctuations in response to human bacterial e...

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...