January 1, 2003Heart Drug
Value of N-Terminal proBNP in the Diagnosis of Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Primary Care Patients Referred for Echocardiography
Why the study?
Does NT-proBNP analysis accurately rule out left ventricular systolic dysfunction in primary care patients referred for echocardiography?
Population
367 primary care patients with a provisional diagnosis of heart failure referred for echocardiography, mean…
Comparison
N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide analysis vs Echocardiography
Design
Cross-sectional
Authors
Discussion
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Member takes
Implication
May support NT-proBNP to triage echocardiography referrals; leaves open need for prospective validation.
Structured PICO
Does NT-proBNP analysis accurately rule out left ventricular systolic dysfunction in primary care patients referred for echocardiography?
P
Population
367 primary care patients with a provisional diagnosis of heart failure referred for echocardiography, mean age 68.8 years, 54% female.
I
Intervention
N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) analysis (serum levels measured with an immunoassay)
C
Comparator
Echocardiography (assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction)
O
Outcome
Diagnostic performance (sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristics curve) of NT-proBNP for detecting left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVEF <0.40 or LVEF ≤0.30)surrogate
Normal NT-proBNP levels effectively rule out left ventricular systolic dysfunction in primary care patients with suspected heart failure, potentially reducing unnecessary echocardiograms.
Cite This Study
Gustafsson et al. (2003) studied this question.