Identification and guided treatment of ventricular dysfunction in general practice using blood B-type natriuretic peptide.

BACKGROUND: B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a blood test which detects ventricular wall stretch and is being increasingly used in primary care on limited evidence. AIM: To assess the practical implications and potential clinical benefit of measuring BNP to identify and guide the treatment of undiagnosed or under-treated ventricular dysfunction in at-risk patients. DESIGN OF STUDY: Screening study with single-arm intervention. SETTING: A total of 1918 patients with diabetes mellitus or ischaemic heart disease aged > or =65 years registered with 12 general practices were invited; 76 patients with elevated BNP underwent BNP-guided treatment titration. METHOD: Eligible patients were invited to attend for a blood test at their own practice; those with a persistently elevated plasma BNP concentration (>43.3 pmol/l) after repeat measurement were offered initiation or up-titration of treatment guided by remeasurement of BNP with a target concentration of <36 pmol/l. RESULTS: Seven-hundred and fifty-nine patients (40%) attended for screening; 76 (10% of 759) commenced treatment titration. Of these 76 patients, 64 (84%) were asymptomatic or had only mild breathlessness. Maximum titration effect was achieved by the second visit when 27 (36%) had achieved the BNP target concentration and the mean reduction was 10.8 pmol/l (P<0.001). The most effective therapeutic step was a switch in beta-blocker to carvedilol or bisoprolol (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: About 10% of patients with diabetes or cardiovascular disease on GP morbidity registers have a persistently raised plasma BNP concentration. Simple adjustment of their drug treatment may reduce their BNP and associated mortality risk, but further up-titration against BNP is only possible if the within-person biological variability of measurement can be reduced.

Prognosis of all-cause heart failure and borderline left ventricular systolic dysfunction: 5 year mortality follow-up of the Echocardiographic Heart of England Screening Study (ECHOES).

AIMS: Heart failure (HF) is reported to have an essentially malignant prognosis that can be modified by several interventions. Most outcome data on HF are available from randomized controlled treatment trials and longitudinal epidemiological studies. However, for a number of reasons, neither type of study have, to date, provided generalizable data on HF mortality. Furthermore, data on the prognosis of borderline left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) are even more limited. METHODS AND RESULTS: ECHOES (Echocardiographic Heart of England Screening Study) screened a total of 6,162 patients from a total of 10,161 invited (61% response rate). Patients were randomly selected from four pre-specified cohorts: the general population, diuretic users, those with a prior clinical label of HF, and a population with risk factors for HF, to identify the prevalence of HF and LVSD based on clinical assessment, ECG, and echocardiography. Causes of death during a 5-9 year follow-up period were recorded from routine mortality statistics. The 5-year survival rate of the general population was 93%, compared with 69% of those with LVSD without HF, 62% with HF and no LVSD, and 53% with HF plus LVSD. Survival improved significantly with increasing ejection fraction (EF) (log rank test for trend, chi(2) = 534.5, 1, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The ECHOES mortality data confirm the poor prognosis of patients suffering prevalent HF across the community with a mortality risk estimate of 9% per year. Borderline systolic dysfunction (EF 40-50%) on echocardiography carries a poor prognosis.

Applicability to primary care of national clinical guidelines on blood pressure lowering for people with stroke: cross sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristics of patients with cerebrovascular disease in primary care with those of the participants in the PROGRESS trial, on which national guidelines for blood pressure lowering are based. DESIGN: Population based cross sectional survey of patients with confirmed stroke or transient ischaemic attack. SETTING: Seven general practices in south Birmingham, England. PARTICIPANTS: All patients with a validated history of stroke (n = 413) or transient ischaemic attack (n = 107). PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: age, sex, time since last cerebrovascular event, blood pressure, and whether receiving antihypertensive treatment. RESULTS: Patients were 12 years older than the participants in PROGRESS and twice as likely to be women. The median time that had elapsed since their cerebrovascular event was two and a half years, compared with eight months in PROGRESS. The systolic blood pressure of 315 (61%) patients was over 140 mm Hg, and for 399 (77%) it was over 130 mm Hg. One hundred and forty seven (28%) patients were receiving a thiazide diuretic, and 136 (26%) were receiving an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. CONCLUSIONS: Important differences exist between the PROGRESS trial participants and a typical primary care stroke population, which undermine the applicability of the trial's findings. Research in appropriate populations is urgently needed before the international guidelines are implemented in primary care.