B-type natriuretic peptides for the diagnosis of congestive heart failure in dyspneic oldest-old patients.

Abstract Objectives To evaluate the accuracy of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) for the diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) in dyspneic patients aged ≥ 85 years admitted to the Emergency Department (ED), and to define threshold values in this oldest-old population. Design and methods This study involved 210 oldest-old patients, and 360 patients aged from 65 to 84 years ( Results Median BNP and NT-proBNP levels were significantly higher in CHF oldest-old patients ( p Conclusion Both BNP and NT-proBNP could potentially be reliable biomarkers for the diagnosis of CHF in oldest-old patients admitted with acute dyspnea to the ED.