Why the study?
BNP diagnostic utility can be limited by non-heart failure comorbidities that independently elevate levels, highlighting the need to evaluate alternative causes such as malignancy.
Malignancy should be considered as a potential alternative cause for elevated serum BNP levels in patients without heart failure.
Consider malignancy in unexplained BNP elevation without heart failure; single case leaves open need for validation.
Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a well-established biomarker for heart failure (HF). However, its diagnostic utility can be limited in patients with comorbidities that independently elevate serum BNP levels, including chronic renal failure and sepsis. We describe a rare occurrence of significantly elevated serum BNP levels in a patient with metastatic urothelial cancer without HF or obvious signs of sepsis. The report highlights the need for considering alternative causes for increased serum BNP levels, especially in the presence of malignancy.
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Chen et al. (2023) studied this question.
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