Simple blood test for NT-proBNP level may help predict cardiovascular events

A blood test for patients with coronary heart disease could help predict their risk for subsequent cardiovascular events or death, according to a study in the January 10 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Risk stratification for cardiovascular events among the general population and among high-risk individuals is of considerable interest because of the potential to help guide use of primary and secondary preventive therapies. Brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP; consisting of 2 or more amino acids) and the amino terminal fragment of the prohormone BNP (NT-proBNP; a type of peptide in the blood that is a cardiac biomarker) appear to provide prognostic information in individuals following hospital admission for decompensated heart failure or acute coronary syndrome, and may also be important markers of long-term prognosis, according to background information in the article.

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, Ph.D., M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues assessed the association of plasma NT pro-BNP levels with subsequent cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, or heart failure) and death in a group of 987 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The participants were followed up for an average of 3.7 years, during which 256 patients (26.2 percent) had a cardiovascular event or died.

The researchers found that each increasing quartile of NT-proBNP level was associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular events or death, with individuals in the highest quartile (19.6 percent event rate) having a nearly 8-fold increased rate of cardiovascular events or death compared with those in the lowest quartile (2.6 percent event rate). Each incremental increase by a certain level of NT-proBNP was associated with a 2.3-fold increased rate of adverse cardiovascular outcomes, even after adjusting for other prognostic markers, including clinical factors, echocardiographic parameters, ischemia, serum biomarkers and functional limitations.

"We observed the strongest association between NT-proBNP level and risk of incident heart failure. The ability to identify individuals at risk for developing heart failure has considerable appeal because the early initiation of preventive therapies may alter the course of this disease with very high rates of morbidity and mortality," the authors write.

"These findings suggest that a simple blood test for NT-proBNP level may aid in the risk stratification of high-risk patients, such as those with CHD, and may guide further testing and treatment strategies aimed at reducing future cardiovascular morbidity and mortality," the researchers conclude.

http://jama.ama-assn.org/