Article Text
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Q In emergency department (ED) patients with dyspnoea, how do B type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentrations compare with amino terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) concentrations for detecting congestive heart failure (CHF)?
Clinical impact ratings Internal medicine ★★★★★★★ Emergency medicine ★★★★★☆☆ Cardiology ★★★★★★☆
METHODS
Design:
blinded comparison of BNP and NT-proBNP concentrations with a comfirmatory diagnosis of CHF based on the Framingham criteria after reviewing patient medical records.
Setting:
a hospital in Linz, Austria.
Patients:
251 ED patients (mean age 73 y, 93% men) who had shortness of breath as the most prominent symptom. Patients with acute coronary syndromes were excluded.
Description of tests:
BNP and NT-proBNT concentrations in plasma were measured by the AxSYM BNP assay (Abbott Laboratories, Abbot Park, IL, USA) and the Elecsys NT-proBNP test (Roche Diagnositics), respectively.
Diagnostic standard:
blinded …