Amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide for the diagnosis of acute heart failure in patients with previous obstructive airway disease.

Study Objective: We evaluate results from amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) testing with or without those of clinical judgment for the evaluation of dyspneic patients with previous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma.

Methods: As a secondary analysis of previously collected observational data from a convenience sample of 599 breathless patients, 216 patients with previous chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma who presented to the emergency department were analyzed according to results of NT-proBNP, clinical impression, and their final diagnosis. Test performance of NT-proBNP in these patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma was examined for the group as a whole, as well as in patients with and without previous heart failure.

Utility of B-type natriuretic peptide for the evaluation of intensive care unit shock.

Objectives: Among patients with congestive heart failure, B-type natriuretic peptide measurement is useful to estimate filling pressures and to prognosticate adverse outcome. However, among critically ill intensive care unit patients with shock, the utility of B-type natriuretic peptide to assess cardiac hemodynamics or prognosis has not been explored.

Design: Clinical investigation.