Brain natriuretic peptide and HIV-related cardiomyopathy.

The brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) assay is a new, relatively inexpensive, and simple test that has the potential to be an early, cost-effective, and reliable marker for HIV-related cardiomyopathy. We report 1 case of HIV-related cardiomyopathy and 10 cases of of HIV infection with unknown heart disease in which we measured BNP levels and performed echocardiography. We found a significant inverse relationship between BNP and left ventricular function in these patients. Further basic and epidemiologic research on BNP measurement for the detection of HIV-related cardiomyopathy is needed to support these findings, which if confirmed, could have important clinical and public health implications.