Low prevalence of B-type natriuretic peptide levels <100 pg/mL in patients with heart failure at hospital discharge

Abstract

Background: In patients with acute heart failure (HF) presenting at the emergency department, a B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) level <100 pg/mL was found in only 10% of the patients. However, in a more stable outpatient HF population from another study, a BNP level <100 pg/mL was found in as many as 21% of the patients. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of stabilized patients with BNP levels <100 pg/mL before discharge after admission for decompensated heart failure HF. Methods: We investigated 601 patients with HF who were part of a large-scale multicenter study in The Netherlands. All patients had been admitted for decompensated HF, and their BNP levels were measured before discharge when they had been clinically stabilized. Clinical characteristics of patients with BNP levels <100 and ≥100 pg/mL were compared. Results: Patients were 70 ± 12 years old, 61% were men, and mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 0.34 ± 0.14. Of these patients, 10% had BNP levels <100 pg/mL. Patients with a BNP level <100 pg/mL were similar in age and sex but had higher left ventricular ejection fraction (0.41 ± 0.14 vs 0.33 ± 0.13, P