Background: It has been published that hypertension (HT) must be taken into account when using NT-proBNP, but left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy without HT could be a cause of NT-proBNP elevation. In a population study we compared NT-proBNP in subjects with hypertrophy, with and without diagnosis of HT.
Methods: We studied 215 subjects from a random sample of 432 people who had declared to suffer from dyspnea. These 432 subjects were referred to their hospital where blood samples were taken, an echo-Doppler study was performed and a specific questionnaire was completed. We got a positive answer from 215, and 52 (24%) have LV hypertrophy.
Results: When we compared NT-proBNP in non-hypertrophic population, 148 +/- 286 pg/ml, with NT-proBNP in LV hypertrophic population, 202 +/- 209 pg/ml, we found P < 0.001. In the hypertrophic group, when we compared NT-proBNP (199 +/- 201 pg/ml) in normotensive subjects (LV mass index 170 +/- 70 g/m2, Vp 50 +/- 18 cm/s, LVEF 62 +/- 8) with NT-proBNP (205 +/- 220 pg/ml) in subjects with diagnosis of HT (LV mass index 169 +/- 37 g/m2, Vp 55 +/- 20 cm/s, LVEF 64 +/- 10), we found NS.
Conclusions: This population study shows that NT-proBNP is elevated in patients with LV hypertrophy with or without HT. In LV hypertrophy the presence of HT does not influence the peptide levels significantly.
Copyright 2003 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.