Elevated levels of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) are associated with adverse clinical outcomes in acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but several questions remain outstanding. Firstly, it has not yet been determined whether an additional BNP sample at 7 weeks post ACS would enhance risk prediction. Secondly, we assessed whether the prognostic potential of BNP in ACS could be explained by echocardiographic abnormalities such as left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

We measured bedside BNP levels in 443 consecutive patients presenting with ACS and at 7 weeks outpatient follow-up. Main outcome measure was either all-cause mortality, readmission with ACS, or congestive heart failure) at 10 months from presentation.

Of the 443 patients, 120 patients presented with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (27%). There were 90 cardiovascular (CV) events at 10 months. Adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking status, renal dysfunction, left ventricular ejection fraction, and echocardiographic LVH elevated near patient BNP levels (>80 pg/mL) were still associated with subsequent CV events when measured on admission (adjusted relative risk [RR] 2.63 [95% CI 1.34-5.19)] and also at 7 weeks post ACS (adjusted RR 4.12 [95% CI 1.58-10.72]). Patients with persistent BNP elevation at 7 weeks were also at an increased risk of CV events compared to those with an initial high BNP which then fell (unadjusted RR 4.04 [95% CI 1.24-13.15]).

In ACS, bedside BNP levels predict CV events at 10 months, independent of many echocardiographic abnormalities including LVH. Furthermore, our study suggests that an additional 7 weeks post ACS BNP enhances risk stratification over and above a one-off high BNP at baseline.