title: The use of natriuretic peptides in the intensive care unit.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  B-type natriuretic peptides are quantitative markers of heart failure (and/or cardiac stress) that summarize the extent of systolic and diastolic left ventricular dysfunction, valvular dysfunction, and right ventricular dysfunction. Based on the observation that heart failure is common albeit difficult to diagnose in the ICU, several studies have begun to evaluate the potential use of B-type natriuretic peptides in various ICU settings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Previous pilot studies have examined the use of B-type natriuretic peptide in the differential diagnosis of hypoxemic respiratory failure, to differentiate cardiogenic from noncardiogenic shocks or to predict fluid responsiveness, to assess myocardial dysfunction and prognosis in patients with severe sepsis, and to predict ventilatory weaning failure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although previous studies were small, they highlight the potential of using B-type natriuretic peptides as a noninvasive easily available tool to quantify cardiac stress.
authors.affiliation: University Paris 7 Diderot, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pirracchio
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Logeart
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noveanu
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mebazaa
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mueller
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain