NT-proBNP: When is it useful in Obstetric Medicine?

Pregnancy, viewed as a stress test of the haemodynamic system, may unmask underlying cardiac disease. Pregnancy may also induce de novo cardiac disease. N-terminal brain-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is a useful biomarker in all clinical conditions in which the ventricle is stressed and especially stretched in the general population. In hypertensive diseases of pregnancy, increased levels of NT-proBNP in preeclampsia are associated with increased cardiac filling pressures and diastolic dysfunction. Increased levels of NT-proBNP in pregnant women with known cardiac disease may lead to earlier diagnosis of impending heart failure. Similarly, elevated levels of NT-proBNP assist with the diagnosis of peripartum cardiomyopathy and are increasingly used in follow-up. Women with known congenital heart disease who are pregnant can be screened for risk of cardiac events such as heart failure by the use of NT-proBNP levels. There is a paucity of data in pregnancy with the use of NT-proBNP and more research is needed.