Increased B-type natriuretic peptide during liver transplantation: relationship to invasively measured hemodynamic...

The role of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) concentration in predicting cardiac dysfunction has been extensively investigated in many clinical conditions. Little is known, however, about its relationships with hemodynamic parameters from right heart catheterization in patients undergoing liver transplant surgery.

We retrospectively evaluated 525 patients who underwent liver transplantation. Hemodynamic variables from a Swan-Ganz catheter and BNP concentrations were measured 1 hour after induction of general anesthesia. Patients were stratified by quintiles of BNP concentrations. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to identify hemodynamic parameters associated with BNP ≥ 135 pg/mL, a cutoff point for the 5th quintile.

Univariate analysis showed that factors significantly associated with BNP ≥ 135 pg/mL included model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, diastolic blood pressure, mean pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), cardiac index, right ventricular end-diastolic volume index (RVEDVI), systemic vascular resistance index, pulmonary vascular resistance index (PVRI), and right ventricular stroke work index. Multivariate analysis revealed that MELD score (odds ratio [OR] = 1.059, P < .001), PCWP (OR = 1.116, P = .026), RVEDVI (OR = 1.010, P = .009), and PVRI (OR = 1.009, P = .002) were independent determinants of BNP ≥ 135 pg/mL.

Severity of liver disease, preload dependent hemodynamic parameters, and pulmonary vascular resistance were found to be significantly associated with increased BNP concentration, reinforcing the utility of BNP as a marker of cardiac strain and ventricular volume overload in liver failure patients undergoing liver transplant surgery.