title: Diagnostic values of NT-proBNP in acute dyspnea among elderly patients.
abstract: The study aims to evaluate a rapid testing of NT-proBNP in differential diagnosis of cardiac and pulmonary dyspnea among elderly emergency patients. Two hundred sixty-eight dyspnea patients with ages of ≥60 years old participated in the study. Based on their clinical diagnosis, the patients were divided into three groups: group A diagnosed with pulmonary dyspnea (PD), group B diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF), and group C diagnosed with combined dyspnea (CHF+PD). NT-proBNP levels among the three groups were compared. NT-proBNP levels in group A were significantly lower than those in groups B and C. No significant difference was observed between groups B and C in terms of NT-proBNP levels (P>0.05). Our data showed that NT-proBNP levels in patients with cardiac dyspnea were significantly higher than those in patients with pulmonary dyspnea. Person linear association analysis revealed that NT-proBNP levels were reversely associated with LVEF (r=-0.675, P<0.01), indicating that higher NT-proBNP levels result in lower LVEF and poorer heart functions. NT-proBNP is a valuable biomarker in differential diagnosis of pulmonary and cardiac dyspnea among elderly patients due to the high sensitivity of the testing method and the strong association with the severity of heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Hongsheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Runmei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Chunming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital Beijing 100048, China.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C109794:pro-brain natriuretic peptide (1-76); D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain
keywords: Amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide; biomarker; dyspnea; elderly patients; emergency