Use of N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide assay for etiologic diagnosis of acute dyspnea in elderly patients.

Background: B-type peptide assay (brain natriuretic peptide [BNP] and N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide [NT-proBNP]) is useful for the diagnosis of heart failure (HF), but few data are available on the use of these markers in elderly subjects. The aim of this study was to evaluate NT-proBNP assay for the diagnosis of acute left HF in patients older than 70 years hospitalized for acute dyspnea.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 256 elderly patients with acute dyspnea.