Key result
Higher BNP cutoff of ~70 pg/ml improves diastolic dysfunction diagnosis in hypertensive postmenopausal women.
Why the study?
Does plasma BNP measurement accurately detect preclinical diastolic dysfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy in postmenopausal women with arterial hypertension?
Cross-Sectional (n=192)
No
Does plasma BNP measurement accurately detect preclinical diastolic dysfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy in postmenopausal women with arterial hypertension?
Effect estimate: AUC 0.754 (95% CI 0.66-0.83)
p-value: p=<0.001
A higher plasma BNP threshold of approximately 70-73 pg/ml may offer superior diagnostic specificity over the conventional 35 pg/ml threshold for detecting preclinical diastolic dysfunction and left ventricular hypertrophy in postmenopausal women with arterial hypertension.
Higher BNP thresholds may enhance specificity for LVH and diastolic dysfunction in postmenopausal hypertension; leaves open prospective validation before clinical adoption.
Aim: to evaluate the diagnostic value of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels for the diagnosis of preclinical chronic heart failure in postmenopausal women with arterial hypertension (AH) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) with varying degrees of diastolic dysfunction (DD). Materials and methods. A total of 192 postmenopausal women from the Podillia region (Ukraine) were enrolled. The control group comprised 80 women without signs of cardiovascular pathology. The main study group included 112 patients diagnosed with AH. Plasma BNP concentration was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All participants underwent echocardiography. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica v6.1. Optimal BNP cutoff values were determined using Odds ratio calculator MedCalc Statistical Software Ltd. Results. Plasma BNP levels in postmenopausal women with AH and LVH were significantly elevated in case of eccentric LVH (79.12 ± 4.35 pg/ml) and DD (73.84 ± 2.25 pg/ml; p < 0.01). The conventionally accepted BNP threshold of 35.0 pg/ml demonstrated insufficient specificity (14.28 %) for the identification of DD in this population. ROC curve analysis identified optimal BNP cutoff values of 69.9 pg/ml for early diagnosis of DD and 72.90 pg/ml for LVH detection, both substantially exceeding the conventional threshold. Conclusions. Plasma BNP levels in postmenopausal women from the Podillia region of Ukraine with AH are significantly elevated in the presence of LVH and DD. The universally applied BNP threshold of 35.0 pg/ml (regardless of sex specifics) demonstrates insufficient diagnostic specificity. The proposed BNP levels may enhance screening accuracy for identifying patients with AH and LVH who require echocardiographic examination, particularly in resource-limited settings where echocardiography is not immediately available, contributing to the development of high-quality treatment and rehabilitation measures and improving prognosis for such patients.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Zhebel et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Arterial hypertension with left ventricular hypertrophy (n=192). Plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level vs. Conventional 35.0 pg/ml BNP threshold / Healthy controls was evaluated on Optimal BNP cutoff value for early diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction (ROC AUC) (AUC 0.754, 95% CI 0.66-0.83, p=<0.001). In postmenopausal women with arterial hypertension, optimal plasma BNP cutoffs of 69.9 pg/ml and 72.90 pg/ml were identified for diagnosing diastolic dysfunction and eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy, outperforming the conventional 35.0 pg/ml threshold.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: