What is the impact of Atrial Fibrillation on the diagnosis of heart failure?
Atrial fibrillation can raise the level of serum natriuretic peptides, including NT-proBNP, even in the absence of heart failure. This is complicated further in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, in which 2 echocardiographic diagnostic criteria become unreliable (the left atrial volume and the tissue Doppler imaging assessment of diastolic function). These factors contribute to the complexity of the diagnosis and have a potential impact on the usual thresholds for NT-proBNP in people who have atrial fibrillation.