ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Cut-off values of B-type natriuretic peptide for the diagnosis of congestive heart failure in patients with dyspnoea visiting emergency departments: a study on Korean patients visiting emergency departments

Sunghyuk Choi, Doyoung Park, Sungwoo Lee, Yunsik Hong, Sujin Kim, Jaekwan Lee

Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Sunghyuk Choi
Guro Hospital, Korea University, 80 Guro-2dong, Guro-gu, Seoul, Korea; kuedchoi{at}korea.ac.kr

Objectives: To determine the optimal cut-off values of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) for the diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) in 1040 Korean patients with dyspnoea visiting emergency departments.

Methods: BNP values were measured for 662 patients without CHF to examine whether significant relationships existed between the BNP values and age, gender or underlying disease. In 378 patients with CHF, a similar analysis was performed in addition to the examination of the relationship between the mean BNP values and CHF severity.

Results: The optimal threshold for the detection of heart failure was a BNP concentration of 296.5 pg/mL, regardless of age, sex and underlying disease among the Korean study population. In the non-CHF patients, women showed significantly higher mean BNP values than did men. Further, in these patients, the mean BNP values of men with underlying disease (hypertension, angina pectoris, chronic renal failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and those with at least two underlying diseases, one of which was hypertension, was higher than those without underlying disease, whereas no difference was observed between women with and without underlying disease. Based on the New York Heart Association classification, echocardiography findings and mortality rate of the CHF patients, the BNP value was found to be related to both the severity of heart failure and its prognosis.

Conclusions: The BNP concentration used for the diagnosis of CHF in Korean people is considerably higher than the normal cut-off value of 100 pg/mL. In the non-CHF patients, the BNP values of women were influenced less by underlying disease. This suggests that the factors that influence BNP values in women are different from those in men.

Abbreviations: BNP, B-type natriuretic peptide; CHF, congestive heart failure; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CRF, chronic renal failure; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; NYHA, New York Heart Association; ROC, receiver operating characteristic

Keywords: natriuretic peptide; brain; heart failure; congestive; gender identity; Korea; prognosis

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Woods, J, Gordon, S, Anderson, P (2008). Cut-off values for B-type natriuretic peptides in the Korean population. Emerg. Med. J. 25: 246-246 [Full Text]  
• Choi, S. (2008). Cut-off values for B-type natriuretic peptides in Korean patients visiting emergency departments. Emerg. Med. J. 25: 246-246 [Full Text]  

eLetters:

Read all eLetters

Cutoff values for B-type Natriuretic Peptides in the Korean Population

Justin A Woods, et al.

EMJ Online, 20 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Cutoff values for B-type Natriuretic Peptides in the Korean patients visiting emergency departments

Sunghyuk Choi

EMJ Online, 20 Nov 2007 [Full text]