ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the value of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in differentiating acute dyspnea from aged pa-tients with heart failure. Methods The concentration of plasma BNP was measured with immunofluorescence assay in 145 aged patients with dyspnea who admitted to hospital by emergency or were out - patients. Results The BNP level in patients with dyspnea caused by heart failure was significantly higher than that of lung disease patients. BNP for the diagnosis of left heart failure had a very strong predic-tive value, while the early diagnosis of pulmonary heart disease and right heart failure has yet to be explored. BNP values > 100ng / L for differentiating of heart failure was the following: the sensitivity of diagnosis was 94.1%, accuracy 93. I%, specificity 79.5%, positive predictive value was 91.3%, and negative predictive value was 85.4%. Conclusion BNP assay was a convenient, rapid and sensitive method for differentiating diagnosis in aged patients with heart failure, especially with left heart failure. It can be used as an important dif-ferential method in elderly patients with acute dyspnea.