Validity of Amino Terminal pro-Brain Natiuretic Peptide in a Medically Complex Elderly Population.

Background: The routine use of natiuretic peptides in severely dyspneic patients has recently been called into question. We hypothesized that the diagnostic utility of Amino Terminal pro Brain Natiuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) is diminished in a complex elderly population.

Methods: We studied 502 consecutive patients in whom NT-proBNP values were obtained to evaluate severe dyspnea in the emergency department.

Aspirin resistance: an update.

Aspirin resistance (AR) still lacks a universally accepted definition, but it may be discussed as either a laboratory phenomenon or a clinical presentation. Laboratory resistance is mainly defined as abnormal platelet response to aspirin, whereas the clinical manifestation is the failure of aspirin to prevent cardiovascular events. Although there is evidence of an association, it appears that a laboratory abnormality in platelet function is not the only risk factor for the clinical manifestation of AR.