proBNP (pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide)
Sample: Serum, 0.5 mL
Schedule: Once a week
Status: CY lab
Units: pg/mL
Reference Range: Up 88 < 50 y.o.
Up 227 50 - 65 y.o.
Up 349 65 - 74 y.o.
Up 740 >75 y.o.
Remarks:
The pro BNP is a substance released by the heart as an answer to the cardiac insufficiency, to the hypotension (when the heart is not strong enough to pump blood), to the cardiac attack (when the heart can not take enough oxygen) or to the hypertrophy of the cardiac muscle. The test for proBNP is used to diagnose or estimate the damage in heart failure and is particularly useful in differentiating the symptoms of heart failure as edema (difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, fatigue) to other similar symptoms such as lung disease.
Second must important use of the proBNP test is to early identify patients of high risk for cardiac damage (prognostic factor), so the physician can start on time the must adequate support and regime in order to face the problem.
