Diagnostic and prognostic values of N-terminal pro-C type natriuretic peptide in patients with COPD and pulmonary hypertension

The aim of this study was to investigate diagnostic and prognostic values of Nterminal proC type natriuretic peptide in patients with stage II – IV chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (GOLD, 2011). Methods. Patients with stage II – IV COPD (n = 47; 44 males, mean age, 59.49 ± 0.63 years; disease duration, 13.7 ± 0.63 years; smoking history, 23.09 ± 0.93 packyears; body mass index, 27.22 ± 9.06 kg / m–2) were involved in the study. The patients were divided according to presence or absence of pulmonary hypertension (PH): patients without PH (n = 21; systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) < 40 mmHg), patients with mild PH (n = 16, sPAP 40 – 55 mmHg) and patients with severe PH (n = 10; sPAP > 55 mmHg). Results. NTproCNP levels differed significantly between patients without PH (1.42 ± 0.03 pg / mL), patients with mild PH (4.14 ± 0.51 pg / mL) and patients with severe PH (5.26 ± 0.21 pg / mL) (p1–2 = 0.001; p2–3 = 0.001; p1–3 < 0.001). sPAP was related to NTproCNP level (r = 0.53; p < 0.05). Conclusion. NTproCNP had a high diagnostic value for predicting severe and nonsevere PH in COPD patients.