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Updated: May 25, 2026

Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) Activity in Children
Published on: April 29, 2013
[Correlation between the blood serum BNP level and the left cardiac function in children with congenital heart
1Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, China Medical University, Shengjing Hospital, Shenyang 110004, China.
Objective:
To study the correlation between the blood serum brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level and the left cardiac function in children with congenital heart disease (CHD).
Methods:
The clinical data of 41 CHD children were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups based on the existence of congestive heart failure (CHF): CHD+CHF (n=21) and CHD alone (n=20). The blood serum BNP level was determined using chemiluminescence immunoassay, and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was measured with echocardiogram.
Results:
The serum BNP level was 1353 pg/mL (range: 926-2978) in the CHD+CHF group, which was significantly higher than in the CHD alone group[149 pg/mL (range: 75-242)] (P<0.01). The LVEF was 60% (range: 53%-65%) in the CHD+CHF group, which was significantly lower than in the CHD alone group[68% (range: 64%-72%)] (P<0.01). The serum BNP level showed a negative correlation with the LVEF level (r=-0.652, P<0.01).
Conclusions:
The blood serum BNP level is related to the cardiac function. For children with severe CHD+CHF, serum BNP level can be used as a sensitive indicator for evaluating cardiac function damage.
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