The Correlation between the Serum Brain Natriuretic Peptide Level and the Cardiac Function in Patients with Heart Failure

Objective To investigate the correlation between the brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)level in serum and the severity of heart failure(HF)as well as the left ventricular function(LVF)in patients with HF.Methods 122 patients with HF before and after treatment and 20 control subjects were investigated by measuring the BNP level in serum,the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)and the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD).Results The serum BNP level in patients with HF were markedly higher than those of control group(P0.01),and the increase of BNP level was closely correlated with the severity of NYHA function class.The BNP levels were correlated negatively with the LVEF(r=-0.34,P0.001).After treatment,the LVEDD in HF patients was obviously improved(P0.05),however,the BNP level in serum was markedly decreased after treatment.Conclusion The increase of BNP levels is closely correlated with the severityof HF,further more,the BNP levels also better reflected the LVF.