title: Biomarkers in pediatric heart disease.
abstract: A biomarker is a characteristic that can be used as an indicator of a biological state. A biomarker can be a clinical observation, laboratory test or an imaging parameter. In this review, we discuss the use of biomarkers in differentiating cardiac from noncardiac disease; predicting the prognosis of patients with heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and dilated cardiomyopathy; diagnosing subclinical cardiac involvement in muscular dystrophy and postchemotherapy cancer patients; detecting acute rejection following heart transplantation; diagnosing Kawasaki disease; aiding the management of postoperative cardiac patients; and managing both common (tetralogy of Fallot) and complex (single-ventricle physiology) congenital heart diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Hythem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nawaytou
authors.forename: Harold S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Bernstein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D010372:Pediatrics
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Kawasaki disease; biomarker; cardiomyopathy; cardiotoxicity; congenital heart disease; heart failure; heart transplant; natriuretic peptides; postoperative; pulmonary hypertension