[Atrial natriuretic factor as a marker of clinical severity in cardiac failure]

The authors examined plasma levels of the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) in 26 patients with manifestations of cardiac failure. The ANF levels were high as compared with reference values (21 +/- 16.7 fmol/ml vs. 4.9 +/- 2.1 fmol/ml) and different in relation to individual functional NYHA classes, i.e. the lowest ones were in the second and the highest ones in the fourth class. Concurrently the authors revealed a statistically significant negative exponential correlation between plasma ANF levels and the left ventricular ejection fraction (r = 0.550, p < 0.01) and a bordeline correlation between ANF and the stroke volume (r = -0.45, p = 0.05). The results indicate that the plasma ANF level is a good indicator of severity of cardiac weakness and can be used in clinical work as a prognostic indicator in patients with heart failure.