OBJECTIVE To report the mortality of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVD), assessed objectively by echocardiography, and its association with natriuretic peptide hormones in a random sample of 1640 men and women aged 25-74 years from a geographical, urban population. METHODS Left ventricular function was measured by echocardiography in 1640 attendees studied in 1992-3. LVD was defined ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES NT-proBNP is useful in the diagnosis of heart failure and ventricular dysfunction. Left atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD) is a consolidated index of ventricular function. Our objective was to carry out a multicenter population-based study to establish the relationship between plasma NT-proBNP levels with AVPD values. PATIENTS AND METHOD We studied 215 subj...

OBJECTIVE To correlate the serum levels of B type natriuretic peptide and the N-terminal fraction of the pro-B type natriuretic peptide, as well as to analyze the influence of age, obesity, renal failure, left ventricle ejection fraction, diastolic dysfunction, and anemia on serum levels of both markers. METHODS An observational study in which the agreement was compared between these markers ...

PURPOSE Cardiac dysfunction and hyperdynamic systemic circulation may be present in patients with cirrhosis. The purpose of this study was to identify relations between plasma levels of N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP), reflecting early ventricular dysfunction, and the severity of liver disease and cardiac dysfunction in cirrhotic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-three cirrhotic patients an...

1. Brain natriuretic peptide is a new natriuretic hormone with striking similarity to atrial natriuretic peptide, but there are no previous data concerning its clearance in man. Two pathways of clearance for atrial natriuretic peptide are recognized: degradation by neutral endopeptidase and binding to atrial natriuretic peptide clearance receptors. We have examined the effect of candoxatril, an...

BACKGROUND Elevated natriuretic peptide levels in asymptomatic individuals without heart failure are associated with increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes and may reflect subclinical cardiac dysfunction. METHODS In a sample of 313 asymptomatic individuals (51% women, mean age 61 years) with hypertension and diastolic dysfunction, we examined the association of plasma N-terminal pr...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate asymptomatic patients with chronic Chagas disease to determine prevalence of ventricular arrhythmias, left ventricular dysfunction, and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) plasma levels. METHODS One hundred and six patients from the Chagas disease outpatient clinic underwent clinical evaluation, electrocardiogram (ECG), cardiothoracic index (CTI), ambulatory electrocardiogr...

The mechanisms mediating the activation of cardiac gene expression during pressure overload are not fully understood. We examined whether angiotensin II-induced activation of ventricular gene expression is related to blood pressure and ventricular mass or requires other factors by infusing angiotensin II in sham-operated and adrenalectomized rats. In sham-operated rats, angiotensin II (33 micro...

The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences in echocardiographic findings or in the level of a biochemical marker (i.e. N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP]) between controls and type-2 diabetic patients with or without ischemic heart disease. Echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular function and morphology. In addition, the plasma NT-proBNP c...

Measurement of plasma concentrations of the natriuretic peptides has recently been recognised as a potentially useful means of identifying patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). Most studies, including our own, suggest that brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) may be superior to N-terminal atrial natriuretic peptide for diagnostic purposes. The widespread applicability of BNP wo...