Clinical impact of the determination of natriuretic peptides on long-term follow-up of patients treated in the Heart Failure Unit

Abstract Introduction The use of natriuretic peptides has spread in recent years as a diagnostic tool in patients with heart failure (HF). However, its influence on the prognosis of these patients has not been clearly established. Thus, our main aim was to know the characteristics of patients with increased levels of NT-proBNP and to analyze its impact on long-term prognosis in terms of mortality and readmissions due to heart failure. Material and methods We selected cases from the heart failure unit at HURS which had a NT-proBNP determination at first consultation. Patients were divided into two groups: GROUP 1 (NT-ProBNP <10000) and GROUP 2 (NT-ProBNP >10000). Clinical, echocardiographic and treatment variables were collected and patients were followed up for readmissions due to heart failure and all-cause mortality. Results A total of 280 patients were selected. The mean age of the cohort was 66.74±13.88 years and was male-dominated (64%). In group 1, there was a higher initial left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) (43.19% vs 40.36%; p=0.057), lower basal creatinine (1.13 mg/dL vs 1.53 mg/dL; p=0.001), lower creatinine at the end of follow-up (1.27 mg/dL vs 1.79 mg/dL; p=0.001) and a lower NT-proBNP at the end of follow-up (4039 pg/mL vs 17140 pg/mL; p=0.000) than in group 2. In addition, group 2 showed a higher percentage of chronic kidney disease (55% vs 29%; p=0.000) than group 1, with no differences in their main variables. With 110 months of follow-up, patients with NT-proBNP levels>10000 had a similar hospital readmission rate compared to the group with lower NT-proBNP levels (81.2% vs 84.8% log rank p=0.133).With a mean of 130.01±9.11 months of follow-up, patients with NT-proBNP levels>10000 had a tendency to higher mortality from any cause than those with lower NT-proBNP levels (84.4% vs 48.4%, log rank p=0.000). Conclusion Patients with NT-proBNP levels>10000 are associated with a lower LVEF at baseline and a higher proportion of chronic kidney disease. In the long term, patients with NT-proBNP levels>10000 had the same rate of readmissions for heart failure but a higher rate of death from any cause. Kaplan-Meier analysis Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None