A
56-year-old man presented to the emergency department with acute
shortness of breath and wheezing. He had no chest pain.
His
pulse rate was 121 beats per minute with normal volume and regular
rhythm. Blood pressure was 110/60, respiratory rate was 22 per
minute, and temperature was 37.3 C.
Chest
auscultation revealed mild ronchi, while examination of the heart was
normal.
ECG
and chest x-ray were normal.
Which
one of the following statements is true?
A-
High serum BNP will not change the management decision of this
patient
B-
High serum BNP excludes heart failure
C-
Low serum BNP suggests non-cardiac etiology
D-
High serum BNP is of better prognostic value than high serum
NT-proBNP
E-
Elevated serum BNP is of higher diagnostic value than elevated serum
NT-proBNP
BNP
ReplyDeleteIs good for excluding CHF
But if it's high there are wide DD
Exactly! It's of high negative predictive value especially in the absence of typical symptoms of heart failure (good for triage).
DeleteOn the other hand, when it's raised, although highly sensitive for heart failure, it's less specific and can be seen in COPD and elderly people, and probably more.