The Role of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in the Diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure in Patients Presenting to an Emergency Department with Dyspnea

70 consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department with acute dyspnea. Mean age 72.4 ± 15.9 years, 47% male. Excluded: patients with a clear diagnosis of dyspnea (e.g., trachea stenosis, cardiac tamponade) and those with acute coronary syndromes whose prominent complaint was not dyspnea.

B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurement at admission using a rapid (15 min) bedside fluorescence immunoassay (Triage B-Type Natriuretic Peptide test) on whole blood.

Clinical diagnosis by emergency department physician (blinded to BNP) and ultimate definite diagnosis by a cardiologist (blinded to BNP) using Boston criteria, hospital course, and test results.

Diagnostic accuracy of BNP for congestive heart failure (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and area under the curve).surrogate