INTRODUCTION Natriuretic peptides are secreted from the heart in response to increased wall stress. Their levels are expected to be increased in patients with mitral stenosis (MS) due to high left atrium (LA) pressure and pulmonary artery pressure (PAP). Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) if successful is pursued by a rapid decrease in LA pressure and subsequent decrease in p...

BACKGROUND National guidelines suggest the use of natriuretic peptides in suspected heart failure but there have been no studies comparing assays in primary care. AIM To test and compare the diagnostic accuracy and utility of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide (NT proBNP) in diagnosing heart failure due to left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patien...

AIM The relationship between fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and cardiovascular disease has been well established in recent studies. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between FGF21 and left ventricular systolic dysfunction and cardiac death. METHODS Two-dimensional echocardiography was used to measure the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) to estimate left ventricula...

Patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) have a high risk of death and it is important to recognize factors associated with high mortality. N-Terminal pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide (NT-pro BNP) has recently emerged as a promising biomarker for risk assessment in acute pulmonary embolism (PE). The aim of this study is to detect the in hospital prognostic value of NT-pro BNP in patients with acute (...

Changes in blood volume (BV) during dialysis as well as plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal (NT) pro-BNP levels are possible tools to assess dry weight in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of the study was to compare these parameters with other non-invasive techniques used to assess dry weight in HD patients, and to study their relation with intradialytic hypotensi...

OBJECTIVES Midregional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) was assessed for the importance of influencing factors, the ability to detect left ventricular systolic dysfunction, and the prognostic power compared with B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in chronic heart failure (HF). BACKGROUND MR-proANP is a biologically stable n...

Cardiac biomarkers, such as cardiac troponin T (cTnT), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and N-terminal-pro-BNP (NT-pro-BNP), are commonly used to diagnose acute coronary syndrome and congestive heart failure exacerbation in symptomatic patients. Levels of these biomarkers are frequently chronically elevated in asymptomatic patients with ESRD who are receiving maintenance dialysis. Other imaging...

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension usually undergo acute vasodilator tests with nitric oxide (NO) for haemodynamic evaluation and therapeutical planning. The aim of this study was to evaluate the link between the variation of N-terminal (NT)-pro-brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels and haemodynamic parameters during the acute vasodilator test. A total of 22 idiopathic pu...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to prospectively investigate changes in brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino terminal pro-BNP (NT-pro-BNP) in relation to functional status after surgical ventricular restoration (SVR). METHODS Between March 2003 and May 2006, 29 patients (20 men and 9 women, mean age 65 years, mean ejection fraction 24%) with post-infarction left ventricular aneurysm ...