title: Brain natriuretic peptide and diastolic dysfunction in the elderly: influence of gender.
abstract: Diastolic heart failure is common in the elderly, particularly women. Previous studies on the value of brain natriuretic peptide in diastolic dysfunction have been largely limited to male subjects. The authors found that female gender, in addition to diastolic function, is an independent predictor of brain natriuretic peptide levels in the elderly without systolic ventricular dysfunction. The authors' data indicate that an optimal threshold of brain natriuretic peptide for detecting diastolic dysfunction should be gender-specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA. chanwit.roongsritong@ttuhsc.edu
authors.forename: Chanwit
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roongsritong
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qaddour
authors.forename: S Lane
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Safaa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Labib
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bradley
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain