[Assessing Cardiac Function of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease using N-Terminal Pro-brain Natriuretic Peptide...

To determine the plasma level of N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-proBNP) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its association with cardiac function.

A total of 567 CKD patients admitted to the hospital from January 2013 to December 2014 were divided into six groups according to their estimated glomerular filtration rate. Their plasma level of NT-proBNP, renal function, and cardiac function were determined.

The worse patients cardiac function, and the lower eGFR, the higher concentration of plasma NT-proBNP. Plasma level of NT-proBNP was negatively correlated with glomerular filtration rate (=-0.529, P<0.01). The receiver operating characteristic curves generated a cutoff NT-proBNP value of 119.5 ng/L, 168.5 ng/L, 300.5 ng/L, 1 019.5 ng/L, 2 777.5 ng/L, and 3 640.5 ng/L, respectively, for diagnosing cardiac failure in the six groups, respectively.

NT-proBNP is affected by renal function, which can be used for diagnosing cardiac failure in patients with CKD.