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(Circulation. 2002;106:e9059.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

This Week in Circulation: the Long Reach of the N-Terminal of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide

High levels of the N-terminal fragment of the BNP prohormone (N-BNP) appear to be a powerful tool that foretells the mortality risk of patients who have acute coronary syndromes, according to researchers from Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom in a report that appears in this week’s issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;106:2913–2918).

The researchers led by Torbjørn Omland, MD, of the Department of Cardiology at the National Hospital in Oslo, Norway, obtained blood samples from 204 patients who were in the subacute phase of an ST-elevation myocardial infarction, 220 with non–ST-segment elevational myocardial infarction and 185 with unstable angina. After monitoring patients for an average of 51 months, 86 patients had died. The researchers found that median N-BNP levels were significantly lower in long-term survivors than in patients who died (442 vs 1306 pmol/L; P=0.0001). In a statistical analysis of the data, they found that N-BNP levels were more important in predicting the future of patients than Killip class, patient age, and left ventricular ejection fraction.

75th Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association
Engineering Parts for Old Hearts
Chicago, Ill—With aged and failing hearts taking first place in the concerns of heart specialists worldwide, many researchers are searching for ways to shore up organs that cannot effectively fulfill their duties. As Valentin Fuster, MD, of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, told attendees at the November 17, 2002, session of the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association (AHA), the aim is to develop new grafts, new stents, and to find ways to correct the defects that . . . [Full Text of this Article]