BNP but Not s-cTnln Is Associated with Cardioembolic Aetiology and Predicts Short and Long Term Prognosis after Cerebrovascular Events

BACKGROUND: We analyzed the prognostic value of b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and sensitive cardiac Troponin (s-cTnI) in patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and their significance in predicting stroke aetiology. METHODS: In a prospectively enrolled cohort we measured BNP and s-cTnI levels upon admission. Primary endpoints were mortality, unfavorable functional outcome and stroke recurrence after 90 days and after 12 months. Secondary endpoint was cardioembolic aetiology. RESULTS: In 441 patients BNP but not s-cTnI remained an independent predictor for death with an adjusted HR of 1.2 (95% CI 1.1-1.4) after 90 days and 1.2 (95% CI 1.0-1.3) after one year. The comparison of the Area under Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUROC) of model A (age, NIHSS) and model B (age, NIHSS, BNP) showed an improvement in the prediction of mortality (0.85 (95% CI 0.79-0.90) vs. 0.86 (95% CI 0.81-0.92), Log Rank p = 0.004). Furthermore the category free net reclassification improvement (cfNRI) when adding BNP to the multivariate model was 57.5%, p<0.0001. For the prediction of functional outcome or stroke recurrence both markers provided no incremental value. Adding BNP to a model including age, atrial fibrillation and heart failure lead to a higher discriminatory accuracy for identification of cardioembolic stroke than the model without BNP (AUC 0.75 (95% CI 0.70-0.80) vs. AUC 0.79, (95% CI 0.75-0.84), p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: BNP is an independent prognostic maker for overall mortality in patients with ischemic stroke or TIA and may improve the diagnostic accuracy to identify cardioembolic aetiology. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00390962.