B-Type Natriuretic Peptide — A Biomarker for All Seasons?

Despite more than two decades of research that has shown the value and cost effectiveness of information from the medical history and physical examination for management decisions, physicians are increasingly reluctant to rely on these subjective data alone. The use of new biomarkers that promise to simplify clinical decision making is often adopted enthusiastically by practitioners. In the emergency department, for example, routine measurement of cardiac troponins reduces the need for busy doctors to struggle with difficult medical histories and atypical presentations of acute coronary disease when making triage decisions. When such biomarkers are used outside the context of good . . .