Description

N-terminal B-type natriuretic peptide precursor (NT-proBNP) is secreted from the left cardiac ventricle in response to volume and pressure overload. It’s an inactive N-terminal fragment that split from BNP prohormone. NT-proBNP can be used to evaluate heart contractile, diastolic dysfunction, and ventricular segmental wall motion coordination. Besides, it has high sensitivity and negative predictive value (>97%). As a gold standard recommended by the European Society of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and American College of Cardiology for the diagnosis and prognosis of heart failure, NT-proBNP is used to indicate heart failure patient at the early stage, determine HF risk levels, monitor medical efficiency of HF drug, evaluate prognosis of HF patient and to distinguish dyspnea that caused by HF from other diseases. Furthermore, NT-proBNP is a risk assessment indicator for Acute Coronary Syndrome.