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Diagnostic biomarkers for heart failure-related pleural effusion
Yi-Lu Hao1, Yan Niu2, Jian-Xun Wen2
1Center for Clinical Epidemiology Research, the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China; Key Laboratory for Biomarkers, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China; Department of Laboratory Medicine, the Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, China.
Diagnosing heart failure (HF)-related pleural effusion is challenging. Natriuretic peptides and specific clinical scores like Porcel's and BANCA show high accuracy, offering objective diagnostic tools.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pulmonology
- Biomarker Research
Background:
- Pleural effusion is a common clinical condition with numerous causes, heart failure (HF) being a frequent one.
- Differentiating HF-related pleural effusion from other causes is difficult due to the subjectivity of current diagnostic methods like imaging and echocardiography.
- Objective, cost-effective, and minimally invasive diagnostic aids like biomarkers and scoring systems are needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and summarize the diagnostic value of biomarkers and clinical scoring systems for identifying HF-related pleural effusion.
- To evaluate the research progress on specific biomarkers including natriuretic peptides, ischemia-modified albumin, and others, as well as scoring systems.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of existing literature on biomarkers and scoring systems for HF-related pleural effusion.
- Analysis of diagnostic accuracy data for various biomarkers (e.g., natriuretic peptides, ischemia-modified albumin) and scoring systems (e.g., Porcel's score, BANCA score).
Main Results:
- Serum and pleural fluid natriuretic peptides (BNP, NT-proBNP, MR-proANP) demonstrated high and validated diagnostic accuracy for HF-related pleural effusion.
- Emerging biomarkers like ischemia-modified albumin require further validation.
- Porcel's score and BANCA score emerged as the most promising diagnostic scoring systems.
Conclusions:
- Natriuretic peptides are highly reliable biomarkers for diagnosing HF-related pleural effusion.
- Porcel's score and BANCA score are recommended as valuable tools for clinical diagnosis.
- Combining natriuretic peptides with validated scoring systems can improve diagnostic certainty.
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