Abstract
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Measurement of Natriuretic Peptides in Patients with Suspected Heart Failure to Prevent Overuse of Echocardiography - a Pilot Study
by Francois-Xavier Goudot, Marie Paugam, Nabil Bendaoud, Cedric Desbene, Mohamed B. El-Sayed, Pierre-Olivier Schismanoff, Christophe Meune
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Background: European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines recommend measuring natriuretic peptides (BNP or NT-proBNP) in patients with suspected heart failure (HF) as a first-line tool. HF should be ruled-out if concen-trations of NT-proBNP are below 300 ng/L and 125 ng/L for acute HF and chronic HF, respectively.
Methods: Patients with suspected HF referred for transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) were enrolled; NT-pro-BNP concentrations were obtained from medical charts (measurement < 48 hours) or prospectively measured on the day of TTE.
Results: Out of 109 patients, NT-proBNP was measured by the referring department before TTE in 40 patients (36.7%), and 37.5% of these patients had NT-proBNP concentration below the rule-out threshold. NT-proBNP was measured in additional 38 patients on the day of TTE. Overall, 38.5% of the patients had a NT-proBNP concentration below the threshold value.
Conclusions: Natriuretic peptides are not routinely measured in patients with suspected HF; systematic measurement would reduce unnecessary TTE by at least 38.5%.
DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2024.231110
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