CAN BRAIN NATRIURETIC PEPTIDE BE A PROGNOSTIC INDICATOR FOR CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE PATIENTS NEARING DEATH?

The cardiac ventricles release brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) when the cardiomyocytes are exceptionally stressed. Past research has indicated that BNP can be a used as a prognostic indicator in heart failure patients (Doust et al., 2005). The hypothesis is that higher BNP readings will result in a shorter amount of time that the patient has to live. 210 patients with a heart condition were admitted to the Hospice of Palm Beach County and had their blood drawn to determine their BNP level; however, only 35 patients qualified for the final analysis. The 35 patients had BNP readings ranging from 63 pg/ml to 50000 pg/ml with the average being 6620 pg/ml, whereas the normal range is <100 pg/ml. The time between the last BNP reading and the date of death ranged from 1 day to 732 days with the average being 118 days; furthermore, the trend indicated that the higher the BNP level the shorter the patient had to live which agrees with the hypothesis.