The Correlation between the Blood Plasma Brain Natriuretic Peptide(BNP) Levels and Heart Function in Patients with Diastolic Heart Failure

Objective:To investigate the correlation between the blood plasma brain natriuretic peptide(BNP) levels and the severity of heart failure(HF) as well as left ventricular function in patients with diastolic heart failure.Methods:Forty-eight patients with diastolic heart failure and 30 control subjects were investigated by measuring the blood plasma BNP levels by immumofluorescence method and the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) by color Doppler echocardiography.Results:The blood plasma BNP levels in patients with diastolic heart failure were markedly higher than those of control subjects(P0.01),and the increase of the blood plasma BNP levels was significantly correlated with the severity of NYHA functional class(P0.01).The decrease of LVEF was correlated with the severity of NYHA functional class,which was not statistically significant(P0.05).There was not statistically significant among the blood plasma BNP levels of each subset patients with HF of different LVEF(P0.05),but the BNP levels were negatively correlated with the LVEF(r=-0.33,P0.05).Conclusion:The increase of the blood plasma BNP levels in patients with diastolic heart failure is closely correlated with the severity of HF,which is important for the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure.