Diagnosis:
Cardiac biomarkers
• Heart failure is a serious and common disease in the United States. Heart failure in the United States affects approximately 5 million people with roughly 550,000 new cases per year. The projected deaths from heart failure are approximately 600,000 per year. It is the most frequent cause of hospitalization in those aged 65 or older.
• BNP and NT-ProBNP levels are used to rule out heart failure and are extremely helpful when the cause of dyspnea is not clear.
• Individuals with higher BNP or NT-ProBNP levels on admission to the hospital have a worse prognosis than those with lower BNP or NT-ProBNP levels.
• A significant reduction in BNP or NT-ProBNP levels during hospitalization predicts a better outcome. However, the change needed to improve prognosis must be between 50% and 80% because of the large biological variation in BNP and NT-ProBNP levels.
• Congestive heart failure can be ruled out if the BNP or NT-ProBNP levels are normal.
• BNP and NT-ProBNP are elevated in noncardiac disorders, such as acute or chronic renal failure, sepsis, liver cirrhosis with ascites, and Cushing syndrome.
