RÉSUMÉ
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the plasma levels of the adrenomedullin [ADM] and atrial natriuretic peptide [ANP] in adult and pediatric patients with congestive heart failure [CHF] of various etiologies and to investigate their relations with haemodynamic variables e.g. echocardiographic left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEF] and fractional shortening [FS]
Subjects and Methods: Thirty eight adult and 21 pediatric patients with CHF of various etiologies in addition to 15 adult and 10 pediatric normal healthy controls participated in this study. Patients with CHF were classified according to the New York Heart Association [NYHA] functional classification into grades II to IV in adult patients and into grade IV in all pediatric patients. ADM and ANP plasma levels were determined prior to treatment with enzyme immunoassay
Results: A statistically significant difference in plasma levels of ADM and ANP were found between pediatric and adult patients and corresponding healthy controls. Their levels were progressively increased with severity of NYHA class in adult patients. Significant positive correlations were found between plasma levels of each of ADM and ANP and pulse rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. There were significant negative correlations between their plasma levels and echocardiographic LVEF and FS. Significant positive correlations existed between plasma levels of ADM and ANP in both pediatric and adult patients
Conclusion: Plasma levels of ADM and ANP being non-invasive reliable tests may be used to identify high-risk subjects for HF for more invasive procedures