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  3. Prognostic value of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in elderly people with acute myocardial infarction: prospective observational study
Research

Prognostic value of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in elderly people with acute myocardial infarction: prospective observational study

BMJ 2009; 338 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b1605 (Published 06 May 2009) Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b1605
  1. L Lorgis, cardiologist1,
  2. M Zeller, senior researcher2,
  3. G Dentan, cardiologist3,
  4. P Sicard, junior researcher2,
  5. P Buffet, cardiologist1,
  6. I L’Huillier, cardiologist1,
  7. J C Beer, cardiologist1,
  8. M Vincent-Martin, cardiologist4,
  9. H Makki, cardiologist5,
  10. P Gambert, professor of medical biochemistry6,
  11. Y Cottin, professor of cardiology1
  12. on behalf of the RICO Survey Working Group
  1. 1Department of Cardiology, University Hospital, Dijon, France
  2. 2Laboratory of Cardiovascular and Experimental Physiopathology and Pharmacology, University of Burgundy, Dijon
  3. 3Department of Cardiology, Clinique de Fontaine, Fontaine les Dijon, France
  4. 4Department of Cardiology, Regional Hospital, Beaune, France
  5. 5Department of Cardiology, Regional Hospital, Châtillon sur Seine, France
  6. 6Department of Medical Biochemistry, University Hospital, Dijon
  1. Correspondence to: L Lorgis, Service de Cardiologie, CHU Dijon, Bd de Lattre de Tassigny, 21034 Dijon Cedex, France luc.lorgis{at}chu-dijon.fr
  • Accepted 16 January 2009

Abstract

Objective To examine the influence of age on the predictive value of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic (NT-proBNP) peptide assay in acute myocardial infarction.

Design Prospective observational study.

Setting All intensive care units in one French region.

Participants 3291 consecutive patients admitted for an acute myocardial infarction, from the RICO survey (a French regional survey for acute myocardial infarction).

Main outcome measure Cardiovascular death at 1 year.

Results Among the 3291 participants, mean age was 68 (SD 14) years and 2356 (72%) were men. In the study population, the median NT-proBNP concentration was 1053 (interquartile range 300-3472) pg/ml. Median values for age quarters 1 to 4 were 367 (119-1050), 696 (201-1950), 1536 (534-4146), and 3774 (1168-9724) pg/ml (P<0.001). A multiple linear regression analysis was done to determine the factors associated with the pro-peptide concentrations in the overall population. NT-proBNP was mainly associated with age, left ventricular ejection fraction, creatinine clearance, female sex, hypertension, diabetes, and anterior wall infarction. At one year’s follow-up, 384 (12%) patients had died from all causes and 372 (11%) from cardiovascular causes. In multivariate analysis, NT-proBNP remained strongly associated with the outcome, beyond traditional risk factors including creatinine clearance and left ventricular ejection fraction, in each age group except in the youngest one (<54 years) (P=0.29). The addition of NT-proBNP significantly improved the performance of the statistical model in the overall study population (−2log likelihood 3179.58 v 3099.74, P<0.001) and in each age quarter including the upper one (1523.52 v 1495.01, P<0.001).The independent discriminative value of NT-proBNP compared with the GRACE score was tested by a diagonal stratification using the median value of the GRACE score and NT-proBNP in older patients (upper quarter). Such stratification strikingly identified a high risk group—patients from the higher NT-proBNP group and with a high risk score—characterised by a risk of death of almost 50% at one year.

Conclusions In this large contemporary non-selected cohort of patients with myocardial infarction, NT-proBNP concentration had incremental prognostic value even in the oldest patients, above and beyond the GRACE risk score and traditional biomarkers after acute myocardial infarction. These data further support the potential interest of clinical trials specifically assessing NT-proBNP measurement as a guide to current treatment strategies, as well as novel strategies, in older patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Footnotes

  • We thank Anne Cécile Lagrost and Juliane Berchoud for assistance with the research and Philip Bastable for assistance with English.

  • Contributors: MZ, JCB, LL, and YC were involved in conception and design. GD, PS, PB, IL’H, MV-M, HM, and PG drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content. LL and MZ analysed and interpreted the data. YC is the guarantor.

  • Funding: This work was supported by the University Hospital of Dijon and the Association de Cardiologie de Bourgogne and by grants from the Union Régionale des Caisses d’Assurance Maladie de Bourgogne and the Agence Regionale d’Hospitalisation de Bourgogne.

  • Competing interests: None declared.

  • Ethical approval: This study was approved by the ethics committee of the University Hospital of Dijon, and each patient gave written consent before participation.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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