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B-type natriuretic peptide predicts disease severity in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
J P Kaski1, M T Tomé-Esteban, S Mead-Regan
1Department of Cardiology, Inherited Cardiovascular Diseases Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK. j.kaski@ucl.ac.uk
Insights
Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels correlate with disease severity in children with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). BNP testing can aid in assessing disease severity when symptoms are unclear.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Biomarkers
Background:
- Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels correlate with disease severity in adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
- In children with HCM, symptoms are unreliable indicators of disease severity.
- The clinical utility of BNP testing in pediatric HCM has not been previously evaluated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the relationship between BNP levels and symptoms in children with HCM.
- To evaluate the correlation of BNP levels with markers of disease severity in pediatric HCM patients.
Main Methods:
- Assessment of plasma BNP levels in 44 consecutive pediatric HCM patients (age <= 17 years).
- Clinical evaluation including ECG, echocardiography, and tissue Doppler imaging.
- Analysis of correlations between BNP levels and clinical/echocardiographic parameters.
Main Results:
- BNP levels correlated significantly with maximal left ventricular (LV) wall thickness, LV outflow tract gradient, E/Ea(s) ratio, and predicted maximum VO(2).
- No correlation was found between BNP levels and heart failure symptoms.
- BNP levels were significantly higher in patients who received an internal cardioverter-defibrillator.
- BNP was independently associated with E/Ea(s) and maximal LV wall thickness on multivariate analysis.
Conclusions:
- BNP levels correlate with non-invasive parameters of disease severity in pediatric HCM, including elevated LV filling pressures.
- BNP may serve as a valuable tool for assessing disease severity in pediatric HCM patients, especially when symptom evaluation is challenging.
Background:
In adults with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels correlate with dyspnoea class and other markers of disease severity. In children with HCM, symptoms are a poor guide to disease severity and no studies have evaluated the clinical utility of BNP testing.
Objective:
To assess the relation of BNP levels to symptoms and markers of disease severity in children with HCM.
Methods:
Forty-four consecutive patients with HCM (27 male, age
Results:
BNP levels correlated with maximal left ventricular (LV) wall thickness (r(s) = 0.631, p<0.001), resting LV outflow tract gradient (r(s) = 0.611, p<0.001), transmitral E/septal Ea (E/Ea(s)) ratio (r(s) = 0.770, p<0.001) and percentage predicted maximum VO(2) (r(s) = -0.390, p = 0.025); there was no relation between BNP and heart failure symptoms. BNP levels were higher in patients who had undergone implantation of an internal cardioverter-defibrillator than in those who had not (309 (interquartile range (IQR) 181-391) vs 50 (IQR 18-188) pg/ml, p = 0.001). BNP was independently associated with E/Ea(s) (r(s) = 0.632, p<0.001) and maximal LV wall thickness (r(s) = 0.412, p = 0.008) on multivariate analysis. At a cut-off point of 50 pg/ml, BNP had a positive predictive value of 93% and a negative predictive value of 80% for predicting E/Ea(s) >10 (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve = 0.875 (p<0.001)).
Conclusions:
BNP levels correlate with non-invasive parameters of disease severity in children with HCM, including measures of raised LV filling pressures. For patients in whom evaluation of symptoms is difficult, BNP may be a useful additional tool in the assessment of disease severity.
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