title: Brain natriuretic peptide plasma levels as a marker of prognosis in patients with community-acquired infection.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the role of the N-terminal prohormone form of BNP (NT-proBNP) in patients with acute community-acquired infection as a predictive marker and its correlation with the type of infection. We studied 42 patients with acute community-acquired infection. Levels of NT-proBNP were measured in all patients at hospital admission and on the third day, as well as in a control group of 84 healthy blood donors. NT-proBNP levels were markedly elevated in patients, 5897 versus 108 pg/ml in the control group (P=0.01) A positive association between the NT-proBNP levels and the final outcome of infection (P<0.0001) was found. Multivariate regression analysis identified NT-proBNP levels as the most important predictor of unfavorable outcome (P=0.017). Patients with lower respiratory tract infection had the maximum increase in NT-proBNP levels (P<0.048) and the most unfavorable outcome (P<0.03) regarding other sites of infection.
authors.affiliation: Sotiria General Hospital, Athens, Greece. cpgor@otenet.gr
authors.forename: Constantin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Goritsas
authors.forename: Magdalini
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fasoulaki
authors.forename: Nikolaos P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Paissios
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Giakoumaki
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Alamanos
authors.forename: Nikolaos I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Nikolaou
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain