Natriuretic peptides in elderly people with acute myocardial infarction

doi:10.1136/bmj.b787

Published 6 May 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b787
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b787

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Natriuretic peptides in elderly people with acute myocardial infarction

Their prognostic value is clear, but more research is need todefine their role in treatment

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Elderly patients form an increasingly large proportion of peoplewith acute myocardial infarction, and advanced age is a strongpredictor of a high risk of death or of serious complicationsafter acute myocardial infarction.¹ Paradoxically, elderly patientswith acute myocardial infarction have been excluded or under-representedin most clinical trials, and limited data are available to guidetheir care. Studies of prognosis after acute myocardial infarctionin the elderly are also scant,² and it is unclear whether ornot the established predictors of high risk of death after acutemyocardial infarction in the general population are useful inthe elderly.

In the linked study (doi:10.1136/bmj.b1605), Lorgis and colleaguesstudied a non-selected cohort of 3291 patients with acute myocardialinfarction and showed that circulating concentrations of theN-terminal fragment of B type natriuretic peptide (BNP) prohormone(NT-ProBNP), had an incremental prognostic value in elderlypatients, beyond established prognostic markers, . . . [Full text of this article]

Antonio Luiz P Ribeiro, professor

¹ Cardiology Service, Hospital das Clínicas, and Internal Medicine Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 30130-100, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

tom@hc.ufmg.br

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