What are the diagnostic test accuracies of NT-pro BNP for diagnosing chronic heart failure?
Six studies explored the diagnostic test accuracy of NT-pro BNP for diagnosing chronic heart failure. The quality of the included studies ranged from high to very low. A single high quality study (n=220) reported a high sensitivity of 100 (93-100)% at a number of age specific thresholds (<50 years 50 pg/mL, 50-75 years 75 pg/mL, > 75 years 250 pg/mL). For women 50 years, a high sensitivity of 100 (90- 100) was observed for a threshold of 67pg/ml which met the sensitivity threshold pre specified by the committee for possible recommendation. For the same group at thresholds of 144pg/ml and 220pg/ml the sensitivities were 94 (80-99) and 91 (76-98) respectively. For men 50 years, high sensitivities of 100 (92-100) and 96 (85-99) were observed at thresholds of 76mg/dl and 93mg/dl respectively. Both of which met the threshold set by the committee.