BACKGROUND Hypertension is an increasingly important medical and public health issue. Because of life time risk of hypertension Joint National Committee-7 introduced a new term "Pre-hypertension" for those with systolic blood pressure 120-139 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 80-89 mmHg. Individuals prone to the development of hypertension often have a hyperdynamic circulation antedating the on...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES The study of myocardial mechanics has a potential role in the detection of cardiac involvement in patients with amyloidosis. This study aimed to characterize 3-dimensional-speckle tracking echocardiography-derived left and right ventricular myocardial mechanics in light chain amyloidosis and examine their relationship with brain natriuretic peptide. METHODS In pati...

439–44. 14. Sharma JC, Ananda K, Ross I, Hill R, Vassallo M. N-terminal proBrain natriuretic peptide levels predict short-term poststroke survival. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2006; 15: 121–7. 15. Etgen T, Baum H, Sander K, Sander D. Cardiac troponins and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in acute ischemic stroke do not relate to clinical prognosis. Stroke 2005; 36: 270–5. 16. Quinn TJ, Daw...

Objectives: To determine whether blood natriuretic peptide concentrations are helpful in identifying or excluding left ventricular systolic dysfunction in stable survivors of acute myocardial infarction. Design: Comparison of blood natriuretic peptide concentrations with echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular systolic function in a general practice population. Setting: Practices in We...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES High-sensitivity troponin assays have improved the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome in patients presenting with chest pain and normal troponin levels as measured by conventional assays. Our aim was to investigate whether N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide provides additional information to troponin determination in these patients. METHODS A total of 398 p...

I thank Lippi and Targher for their kind remarks about my editorial in CHEST (February 2008),1 which describes “tricks of the trade” for assessing pulmonary embolism prognosis. They raise two important questions: (1) Should measurement of natriuretic peptides such as brain natriuretic peptide or pro-brain natriuretic peptide be incorporated into routine prognostic assessment of acute pulmonary ...

The structure of atrial natriurtic peptide (ANP) and Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) are similar and they are also similar in their actions e.g natriuresis and vasodilation. The previous studies have revealed the presence of ANP and BNP in sheep atrial extract, wherease ANP in human atrial. The aim of the present study is to investigate the comparison of hemodynamic effects of these two atrial ...

PURPOSE The family of natriuretic peptides (NPs); atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) as well as three associated receptors (NPRs); natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A), natriuretic peptide receptor B (NPR-B), and natriuretic peptide receptor C (NPR-C) has never been documented in human lens epithelial cells. The study descri...

The levels and pathophysiological role of amino terminal C-type natriuretic peptide in heart failure are unknown. The potential of plasma amino-terminal C-type natriuretic peptide (N-CNP) as a marker of cardiac function was investigated in symptomatic patients. In 305 patients with recent-onset dyspnea and/or peripheral edema, presenting to primary care, assay of plasma amino-terminal C-type na...

Utility of B-natriuretic peptide in detecting diastolic dysfunction: comparison with Doppler velocity recordings. The impact of cardiac natriuretic peptide determination on the diagnosis and management of heart failure. Assessment of preoperative pro-BNP levels in patients with rheumatic heart disease with normal left ventricular function; Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases. et al. Usefulness...