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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Functional Assessment of the Donor Heart During Ex Situ Perfusion: Insights from Pressure-Volume Loops and Surface Echocardiography
Published on: October 11, 2022
Elevated NT-ProBNP levels in patients with increased left ventricular filling pressure during exercise despite
Carsten Tschöpe1, Mario Kasner, Dirk Westermann
1Department of Cardiology and Pneumology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Germany.
Background:
The role of brain natriuretic peptides in the detection of mild forms of isolated diastolic dysfunction is still uncertain. We therefore investigated the plasma levels of the N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in patients with heart failure symptoms during exercise, despite preserved systolic cardiac function.
Methods And Results:
Fifteen control subjects and 15 symptomatic patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction of > or =50%, near normal Doppler echocardiographic indices, and left and right heart catheter indices at rest but increased filling pressures during exercise were studied. Plasma NT-proBNP levels and surrogate parameters of diastolic function were determined simultaneously. The median NT-proBNP plasma level was elevated (median, 145.2 pg/mL [range, 69.7-273.4 pg/mL] vs 38.3 pg/mL [range, 22.1-64.7 pg/ml]; P < .0001) in patients with increased filling pressure during exercise and correlated strongly with the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (r = 0.78; P < .001).
Conclusion:
NT-proBNP levels are increased in patients with increased filling pressures during exercise and useful for the detection of diastolic dysfunction in patients with exertional dyspnea.
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