title: Value of primary care electrocardiography for the prediction of left ventricular systolic dysfunction in patients with suspected heart failure.
abstract: To compare electrocardiogram (ECG) with measurement of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptides (NTproBNP) as the General Practitioner's (GP) initial test for suspected heart failure patients from the community. We prospectively studied 137 suspected heart failure patients who underwent ECG and NTproBNP estimation; were referred from primary care to a specialist unit for echocardiography. We demonstrated that sensitivity of ECG interpreted by GP was significantly lower than both by ECG interpreted by Hospital Physician (HP) and NTproBNP estimation for the detection of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD). Therefore, measurement of NTproBNP is a better investigation in primary care than ECG for the detection of significant LVSD.
authors.forename: Tiong Keng
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Paul O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Collinson
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gaze
authors.forename: Roxy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Senior
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000032:analysis; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013599:Systole; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain