Study says screening heart with natriuretic peptide may reduce risk of dysfunction, heart failure

Among patients at risk of heart failure, collaborative care based on screening for certain levels of brain-type natriuretic peptide reduced the combined rates of left ventricular systolic dysfunction, diastolic dysfunction, and heart failure as well as emergency cardiovascular hospitalizations, according to a study in the July 3 issue of JAMA.

"The increasing prevalence of heart failure [HF] remains a major public health concern underlining the need for an effective prevention strategy. Present-day approaches, focusing mainly on risk factor intervention, have brought about some reduction in new-onset HF. However recent major reports in the United States and the European Union underline difficulties in achieving adequate risk factor control and show that present strategies will not be as effective as desired," according to background information in the article.

Refining risk prediction may be aided by the use of brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP; a peptide secreted by the ventricles of the heart), which has been shown in large general populations to identify those at highest risk of cardiovascular events and, more specifically, of newly diagnosed HF. Studies have shown advantages of using this peptide in this regard over conventional risk indicators. This may reflect the fact that BNF is a response to established cardiovascular damage whereas other conventional risk indicators reflect the potential for cardiovascular insult (injury), the authors write.

Mark Ledwidge, Ph.D., of St. Vincent's Healthcare Group/St. Michael's Hospital, Dublin, and colleagues conducted a study to determine the efficacy of a screening program using BNP and collaborative care in an at-risk population in reducing newly diagnosed heart failure and prevalence of significant left ventricular (LV) systolic and/or diastolic dysfunction. The randomized trial included 1,374 participants with cardiovascular risk factors (average age, 65 years) recruited from 39 primary care practices in Ireland between January 2005 and December 2009 and followed up until December 2011 (average follow-up, 4.2 years). Patients were randomly assigned to receive usual primary care (control condition;>

A total of 263 patients (41.6 percent) in the intervention group had at least 1 BNP reading of 50 pg/mL or higher. The researchers found that the primary end point of left ventricular dysfunction and HF was met in 59 (8.7 percent) of 677 control-group patients and 37 (5.3 percent) of 697 intervention-group patients. Asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction was found in 6.6 percent of control-group patients and 4.3 percent of intervention-group patients. Heart failure occurred in 2.1 percent of control-group patients and 1.0 percent of intervention-group patients.

Seventy-one patients (10.5 percent) were admitted for major adverse cardiovascular events in the control group and 51 (7.3 percent) were admitted in the intervention group. The incidence rates of emergency hospitalization for major cardiovascular events were higher in the control group vs. the intervention group. In the group with BNP levels of 50 pg/mL or higher, the incidence rates of emergency hospitalization for major adverse cardiovascular events were also higher in the control group vs. the intervention group.

"[This study] confirms BNP as a risk identifier for HF and cardiovascular events and provides unique data on the potential benefit of using levels of this peptide as a guide for care. The positive clinical effect of this intervention was associated with improved risk factor control, increased use of agents that modulate the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system targeted at those with elevated BNP levels, and increased use of some cardiovascular diagnostics. These data suggest that a targeted strategy for HF prevention using BNP and collaborative care in a community population may be effective and that benefits extend beyond prevention of HF to an overall reduction in emergency cardiovascular admissions," the authors write. "The need for an effective prevention approach to HF is underlined by epidemiological trends, with HF prevalence expected to increase by 30 percent in the United States by 2030."
 

Study: JAMA