Eur J Heart Fail. 2007 May;9(5):531-6. Epub 2007 Feb 21. Related
Articles, Links
NT-proBNP levels and diastolic dysfunction in beta-thalassaemia major
patients.
Kremastinos DT, Tsiapras DP, Kostopoulou AG, Hamodraka ES,
Chaidaroglou AS, Kapsali ED.
2nd University Department of Cardiology, Attikon General Hospital,
Athens, Greece.
BACKGROUND: The early diagnosis and treatment of heart failure in beta-
thalassaemic patients is related to survival. Iron alone or in
combination with other factors causes diastolic dysfunction, which
usually precedes systolic dysfunction. NT-proBNP is a sensitive
biomarker of ventricular dysfunction. AIM: To evaluate NT-proBNP in
non heart failure beta-thalassaemic patients. METHODS: Fifty-two beta-
thalassaemia major patients (mean age: 27.2+/-12.5 years) with normal
LV systolic function, underwent NT-proBNP measurement and a thorough
Doppler-echocardiographic and pulsed tissue-Doppler study, 4 days
following blood transfusion. Fifty-two age matched healthy controls
were also studied. RESULTS: NT-proBNP and E/E' ratio were increased in
thalassaemic patients compared with controls [(469+/-171 vs 262+/-51
pmol/l, p<0.001) and (10.8+/-4.0 vs 6.6+/-1.1, p<0.001)] and were well
correlated (r: 0.54, p<0.01). Although NT-proBNP levels were increased
in patients with higher E/E' ratios (E/E' <8: 354+/-119, 8-15:
516+/-177, >15: 565+/-114 pmol/l, ANOVA p: 0.002) this increase only
became statistically significant in the 3rd decade of life, while E/E'
ratio increased in the 4th decade. CONCLUSION: NT-proBNP increases in
beta-thalassaemia major patients and is related to age and LV
diastolic dysfunction. NT-proBNP appears to be an early biomarker of
LV diastolic dysfunction, compared with the conventional Echo-Doppler
indexes.
PMID: 17317307 [PubMed - in process]
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