Value of BNP in the Evaluation of Cardiac Function and Diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure

Objective: To investigate the value of BNP in the evaluation of cardiac function and the diagnosis of congestive heart failure. Methods: 48 healthy controls and 152 patients with congestive heart failure were selected. The concentration of BNP and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)were measured. The relationships between the concentration of BNP and LVEF were analyzed. Results: Serum BNP are significantly higher in heart failure patients compared with healthy controls(P 0.01). BNP showed positive correlation with NYHA classification (r=0.823,P 0.01) and negative correlation with LVEF(r=-0.652,P 0.01). When cutoff value was 100 ng/L for heart failure and 580 ng/L for left ventricular systolic dysfunction, sensitivity and specificity were 78%,98% and 92.5%,88.5%,respectively. With cutoff value of 100 ng/L, positive predictive value and negative predictive value for BNP were 98% and 62% to detect heart failure. Conclusion: BNP is a valuable biomarker for the evaluation of cardiac function and the diagnosis of heart failure as well as left ventricular systolic dysfunction for its high sensitivity and specificity.