The Role of Serum NT-proBNP for Predicting Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Hospitalized Patients in Sri Lanka

Only a few studies have addressed the role of NT-proBNP in identifying Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD) in South Asian populations. Therefore, the current study was aimed at assessing the use of serum NT-proBNP in predicting LVSD in a hospitalized population in Sri Lanka. A random sample of 278 individuals referred for echocardiography at a major Teaching Hospital consented for venous blood samples to be collected for serum NT-proBNP assay by sandwich ELISA. Based on the ejection fraction (LVEF) and fractional shortening (FS), participants were differentiated as LVSD (LVEF60%). According to inclusion/exclusion criteria, the final study sample consisted of 100 LVSD patients and 41 non-LVSD individuals. The mean ages of the LVSD and non-LVSD groups were 69.1 (±6.2 years) and 71.4 (±2.4 years) (p=0.066) respectively. The median NT-proBNP value (with IQR) among LVSD patients (528.2 pg/mL,355.2-924.2) was comparatively higher than that of non-LVSD individuals (207.3 pg/mL,177.5-343.0). Strong correlations of NT-proBNP level with LVEF (Spearman -0.84, p