Correlation between Serum Brain Natriuretic Peptide Levels and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy,Diastolic Function in Patients with Essential Hypertention

Objective To study the correlation between the serum brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)levels,the left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH),and left ventricular diastolic function(LVDF)in patients with essential hypertention(EH).Methods 122 patients with EH and 36 control subjects were investigated by measuring the serum BNP level and the left ventricular mass index(LVMI),ratio of E/A was determined by two dimensional echocardiography.The correlation between the serum BNP and LVMI,ratio of E/A were analyzed.Results The serum BNP level in patients with EH were markedly higher than those in control subjects(P0.01),furthermore,the serum BNP level was significantly increased(P0.01)in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy(LVH)as compared with those without LVH.The serum BNP positively correlated with LVMI in patients with EH and negatively correlated with ratio of E/A in patients with EH.Conclusion The extent of BNP increase is closely correlated to the LVH and LVDF,furthermore,the serum BNP level may be a marker for the hypertensive patients with LVH and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction.