Usefulness of brain natriuretic peptide as a marker for separating cardiac and noncardiac causes of syncope.
We retrospectively evaluated the feasibility of measuring brain natriuretic peptide to identify cardiac syncope in 148 consecutive patients with syncope. Sixty-one patients with cardiac syncope were identified. A cut-off value of 40 pg/ml was used to determine the cardiac causes of syncope; the sensitivity and specificity for identification of cardiac syncope were 82% and 92%, respectively. Thus, measurement of brain natriuretic peptide concentrations may help confirm cardiac causes of syncope, and merits consideration for incorporation into the algorithm used to diagnose syncope.
Tanimoto
Kojiro
K
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Kagawa Medical University, Kagawa, Japan.
Yukiiri
Kazushi
K
Mizushige
Katsufumi
K
Takagi
Yuichiro
Y
Masugata
Hisashi
H
Shinomiya
Kaori
K
Hosomi
Naohisa
N
Takahashi
Tsutomu
T
Ohmori
Koji
K
Kohno
Masakazu
M
D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000150:complications; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013575:Syncope / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D019462:Syncope, Vasovagal / Q000175:diagnosis; D018667:Tilt-Table Test
D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain