title: Value of adding natriuretic peptides and electrocardiographic findings to assess the presence of cardiac dysfunction in patients ≥80 years of age.
abstract: Studies estimating the added value of natriuretic peptide levels and electrocardiographic findings beyond all relevant clinical information to identify cardiac dysfunction remain scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of clinically relevant cardiac dysfunction in an unselected population of subjects aged ≥80 years. A cross-sectional analysis using an "intention-to-diagnose" strategy was performed within the BELFRAIL study (n = 567). Baseline B-type natriuretic peptide and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels were determined and echocardiography was performed at subjects' homes. Logistic regression analysis and classification and regression tree analysis were used as complementary analytic tools. Cardiac dysfunction was present in 17% of subjects without and 31% of subjects with chronic atrial fibrillation (AF) or pacemaker. In subjects without chronic AF or pacemaker, the clinical model showed a C-statistic of 0.79 (95% confidence interval 0.74 to 0.85). The combination of natriuretic peptides with normal results on electrocardiography increased, only marginally, the C-statistic. In subjects with chronic AF or pacemaker, the clinical model showed a very high C-statistic of 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.82 to 0.98). Classification and regression tree analysis showed that an additional 58 subjects (13%) were correctly classified using natriuretic peptides and electrocardiographic findings among those without chronic AF or pacemaker. Of participants with chronic AF or pacemaker, >90% were correctly classified. In conclusion, in a large population-based sample of patients aged ≥80 years, the clinical model possessed high accuracy to identify cardiac dysfunction in daily practice. Among subjects without chronic AF or pacemaker, a larger number were correctly classified by integrating natriuretic peptides and electrocardiographic findings in the strategy.
authors: Institute of Health and Society, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. bert.vaes@uclouvain.be
authors: Bert
authors: B
authors: Vaes
authors: Benoit
authors: B
authors: Boland
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: Scavée
authors: Séverine
authors: S
authors: Henrard
authors: Pierre
authors: P
authors: Wallemacq
authors: Gijs
authors: G
authors: Van Pottelbergh
authors: Catharina
authors: C
authors: Matheï
authors: Agnes
authors: A
authors: Pasquet
authors: Jean-Louis
authors: JL
authors: Vanoverschelde
authors: Nawel
authors: N
authors: Rezzoug
authors: Niko
authors: N
authors: Speybroeck
authors: Jan
authors: J
authors: Degryse
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D002097:C-Reactive Protein