N-Terminal Pro–brain Natriuretic Peptide (Nt-Probnp) as a Biochemical Marker for Assessing Severity of Aortic Stenosis

BACKGROUNDBrain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) is an endogenous cardiac hormone, mainly secreted from the ventricular myocardium.In valvular heart diseases, either volume or pressure overload of the left ventricle occurs.Thus, it is reasonable to expect that NT-proBNP might be useful in evaluating the severity and prognosis of valve diseases. AIMSPresent study was done to evaluate the use of NT-proBNP to correlate the symptoms of AS with NT-proBNP level and to find out the correlation of NT-proBNP level with left ventricular functions. MATERIAL AND METHODSIt was a randomized non-blinded study of 47 aortic stenosis patients.Echocardiographic evaluation including M-mode, 2D and Doppler echocardiography was done for all patients.NT-proBNP levels were measured in all the patients.On the basis of NT-proBNP level, patients were grouped as Normal (<60 pg/mL), high (60-3000 pg/mL) and very high (>300 pg/mL). RESULTSOf the 47 patients, 37 (78.72%) were males and the mean age of study group was 37.8±12.5 years.There was a significant increase in NT-proBNP levels in aortic stenosis with LV dysfunction and increasing NYHA class. CONCLUSIONBNP serum level may be useful for risk stratification in asymptomatic patients with severe aortic stenosis.