Serum brain natriuretic peptide and the severity of coronary artery disease in elderly patients

Objective To investigate the relationship between the level of serum brain natriuretic peptide(BNP) and the severity of coronary artery disease in elderly patients with coronary heart disease(CHD).Methods We recruited 498 elderly CHD patients undergoing coronary angiography(CAG) from our hospital.Based on CAG results,patients were divided into two groups:406 patients with lesion of vessel(s)and ≥50％ vessel stenosis as the CHD group,and the other 92 patients with ＜ 50％ vessel stenosis as the negative control group.Their clinical data such as left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) and serum BNP was recorded.The patients was further divided into 177 single-,129 double-,100 triple-,and 92 negative vessel disease groups according to the number of vessels with significant stenosis.The patients with CHD were divided into three different age groups:(1) A group:60-69 years old,254 patients ;(2) B group:70-79 years old,112patients;(3)C group:equal or greater than 80 years old,40 patients.Serum levels of BNP were measured before CAG.The relationship between BNP and the severity of coronary disease was analyzed.Results The level of BNP was significantly elevated in the CHD group[(387.5±132.3)ng/L]than the negative control group [(58.6±22.1) ng/L](t =23.83,P ＜ 0.01).The level of BNP was significantly enhanced(F =87.42,P ＜0.01) along with the increasing number of coronary artery Stenosis,with single vessel disease group(202.2±116.6)ng/L,double vessel disease group(487.5±152.3)ng/L and triple vessel disease group(768.7±264.3) ng/L; the level of BNP significantly increased(F =57.33,P ＜ 0.01) along with increasing age,with A group(182.6±93.1)ng/L,B group(352.2±121.2)ng/L and C group(491.2±158.7) ng/L.The level ofLVEF did not change in the procedure(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion The levels of BNP were closely associated with the severity of coronary artery disease and were a strong clinical predictor for myocardial ischemia. Key words: Coronary heart disease; Brain natriuretic peptide; Coronary angiography; The elderly