Structured Abstract
Objectives
To determine if Amino-terminal Pro B-type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) has different diagnostic and prognostic utility in patients with renal dysfunction.
Background
Patients with renal dysfunction have higher NT-proBNP, which may complicate interpretation for diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) or prognosis.
Methods
We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE through August 2014 for studies with a subgroup analysis by renal function of the diagnostic or prognostic ability of NT-proBNP.
Results
For diagnosis, nine studies were included with 4,287 patients and 1,325 ADHF events. Patients were mostly divided into sub-groups with and without renal dysfunction by an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 60 ml/min/1.73m2. In patients with renal dysfunction, the area under the curve (AUC) for NT-proBNP ranged from 0.66 to 0.89 with a median cut-point of 1980 pg/ml, while the AUC ranged from 0.72 to 0.95 with a cut-point of 450 pg/ml in patients with preserved renal function. For prognosis, 30 studies with 32,203 patients were included, and mortality in patients with renal dysfunction (25.4%) was twice that of patients with preserved renal function (12.2%). The unadjusted pooled risk ratio (RR) for NT-proBNP and mortality was 3.01 (95% CI, 2.53-3.58) in patients with preserved renal function and was similar in patients with renal dysfunction (3.25 [CI, 2.45-4.30]). Upon meta-regression, heterogeneity was partially explained if patients with heart failure or coronary artery disease were enrolled.
Conclusions
NT-proBNP retains utility for diagnosis of ADHF in patients with renal dysfunction with higher cut-points. Elevated NT-proBNP confers a worse prognosis regardless of renal function.