Value of BNP Testing in Diagnosis of Chronic Heart Failure

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of the changes of Brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)levels in patients with chronic heart failure(CHF).Methods 60 consecutive patients hospitalized for CHF were retrospectively studied.BNP and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension(LVEDD),left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)were measured and compared in 60 patients of the observation group and 60 of the control group.Results The plasma BNP levels of patients in the observation group were significantly higher than controls(P0.05).The plasma BNP level in patients with cardiac function NYHA Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅲ,Ⅳ were significantly higher than controls in ascending order.BNP,LVED levels lowered in patients of different degrees of cardiac function disease after treatment(P0.05),while LVEF was significantly higher than before the treatment,which was of statistical significance(P0.05).Conclusion The blood plasma BNP level may be used in the early diagnosis of heart failure and the prognosis evaluation,and has good value for diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction.