Clinical significance of B-natriuretic peptide in patients with decompensated heart failure

Aim To study the clinical significance of B-natriuretic peptide(BNP)in patients with decompensated heart failure(HF).Methods BNP levels(TRIAGE BIOSITE Diagnostics)were obtained in 106 chronic heart failure patients and 32 control subjects.106 patients were diagnosed to chronic heart dysfunction by Framingham criteria,and were grouped into 3 groups according to New York Heart Association(NYHA)classⅡ,Ⅲ and class Ⅳ.Left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)and left ventricular end-diastolic diameter(LVEDD)of all patients were measured by echocardiogram.Results The BNP levels of HF were significantly higher than control subjects.BNP level was gradually increasing from class II group to class Ⅳ group.BNP level in class Ⅳ group was significantly higher than that in classⅡ,Ⅲ group(P0.01).BNP level in class Ⅲ and class Ⅳ group was higher than that in class II group(P0.01).The plasma BNP levels was inversely correlated with LVEF(r=-0.75,P0.01)and has significant positive correlation with LVEDD(r=0.68,P0.01).The levels of BNP in atrial fibrillation(AF)were significantly higher than those in the non-atrial fibrillation group[(929.65±240.60)ng·L-1 vs(465.98±169.28)ng·L-1,P0.01 ].Conclusion BNP may be a routine method to evaluate heart function and can evaluate prognosis in heart dysfunction.