Comparative sensitivities between different plasma B-type natriuretic peptide assays in patients with minimally symptomatic heart failure.

Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) assays have become widely used to diagnose and manage patients with heart failure. However, differences in assay characteristics may have important implications when BNP is used as a screening test for heart failure at a specific cutoff value. We performed a prospective comparison of 2 commercially available assays--one that is a laboratory-based, microparticle enzyme immunoassay (MEIA) that uses EDTA plasma specimens and one that is a point-of-care (POC), single-use fluorescence immunoassay that uses EDTA--anticoagulated whole blood or plasma specimens-in patients with heart failure and healthy controls.