Natriuretic peptides poorly predict left ventricular function in general practice

The possibility that measuring blood natriuretic peptide concentrations could identify patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction without echocardiography has attracted interest. The peptides are stable and can be assayed easily. McClure et al (p 516) tested the value of brain and N-terminal atrial natriuretic peptides in identifying patients with left ventricular dysfunction among a general practice cohort of 134 stable, long term survivors of myocardial infarction. Although brain natriuretic peptide (but not N-terminal atrial natriuretic peptide) was able to discriminate between severe left systolic ventricular dysfunction and preserved function, it could not discriminate between lesser degrees of dysfunction and normal.


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Relevant Article

Cohort study of plasma natriuretic peptides for identifying left ventricular systolic dysfunction in primary care
Samuel J McClure, Lynn Caruana, Andrew P Davie, Steven Goldthorp, and John J V McMurray
BMJ 1998 317: 516-519. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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