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COMMENTS & OPINIONS
Utility of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Testing in the Emergency Department
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We read with great interest the article by Mueller et al1 about the cost-effectiveness of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) testing in patients with acute dyspnea. Their article addresses a relevant question in the daily clinical practice, not only regarding the cost-effectiveness of BNP testing but also its beneficial effect on patients' prognosis. Indeed, the BNP group showed a reduction in intensive care unit admissions and in the need of ventilation (invasive and noninvasive) compared with the control group.1-2 In this regard we would like to raise the hypothesis that this beneficial effect on prognosis might not be related to BNP use but may be related to different baseline clinical characteristics between the 2 groups. We wonder whether taking into account more objective clinical parameters for dyspnea severity, such as values of arterial blood pressure gases and the exact number of breaths per minute,3-4 could have revealed a significantly different level . . . [Full Text of this Article]
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Giorgio Costantino, MD;
Anna Maria Rusconi, MD;
Giovanni Casazza, PhD;
Nicola Montano, MD
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RELATED ARTICLE
Cost-effectiveness of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Testing in Patients With Acute Dyspnea
Christian Mueller, Kirsten Laule-Kilian, Christian Schindler, Theresia Klima, Barbara Frana, Daniel Rodriguez, André Scholer, Michael Christ, and André P. Perruchoud
Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(10):1081-1087.
ABSTRACT
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