Quantitative Marker of Heart Stress Detects Heart Failure

A quantitative marker of heart stress has the potential to detect all stages of heart failure, including the early stages, which can be difficult to detect. The test for this marker provides objective diagnostic information that helps clinicians distinguish heart failure from other disease states with similar clinical symptoms, such as lung diseases or pulmonary embolism.

In the case of heart failure, when the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently, the increased stress on the heart cells results in increased secretion of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). As a result, elevated levels of the NT-proBNP molecule are detected in the blood and can be directly correlated to the severity of heart failure.

NT-proBNP can also be used to assess the prognosis of patients with established heart failure or acute coronary syndrome. Its measurement is cost-effective and leads to important healthcare cost-savings. This was demonstrated by a study at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, MA, USA) and a randomized multi-center study in Canada. The latter study reported a reduction in direct medical costs of 15% (US$949 per patient) when NT-proBNP testing was part of routine assessment of emergency department patients with dyspnea (shortness of breath).

The test, Vidas NT-proBNP, is produced by bioMerieux (Marcy l'Etoile, France) and it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Rockville, MD, USA). "With this new FDA approval, bioMérieux is building a substantial panel of high medical value assays for the Vidas system in the United States. Vidas NT-proBNP is a proven marker for heart failure and will provide clinicians with a powerful tool for the management of life-threatening cardiac pathologies,” declared Stéphane Bancel, CEO of bioMérieux.

bioMérieux provides diagnostic solutions (reagents, instruments, software), which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are used for diagnosing infectious diseases and providing high medical value results for cardiovascular emergencies and cancer screening and monitoring.


Related Links:
Brigham and Women's Hospital
bioMerieux
U.S. Food and Drug Administration