title: Optimum blood collection intervals for B-type natriuretic peptide testing in patients with heart failure.
abstract: Patients with congestive heart failure have increased concentrations of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in blood. We determined the frequency of serial BNP measurements that exceeded the biologic variation of BNP of 100% as a function of days between blood collections. Samples collected 7 days apart were associated with the highest frequency (50%) of statistically different results (increased or decreased) compared with daily collections, where increased or decreased results occurred less often (22%).
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut 06102, USA. awu@harthosp.org
authors.forename: Alan H B
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Fred S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Apple
mesh_terms: D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods*; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain