Brain natriuretic peptide: a marker of cardiac dysfunction with ventricular or dual-chamber pacing

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at BNP (Nesiritide).

The researchers evaluated the impact of pacing mode (DDDR vs.

VVIR) on the brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) level in patients with sick-sinus syndrome (SSS).

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 35 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Sixty-seven patients were treated with DDDR pacemaker implantation due to SSS.

Group A comprised 35 patients on DDDR pacing mode and group B 32 patients on WIR pacing mode.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and single-blind study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got BNP (Nesiritide) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

In this single-blind BNP (Nesiritide) study one party knew the assignments and the other did not.

A time span of 30 days appears in the methods.

They were randomized during the first post-implant day either to DDDR or WIR pacing mode and were reevaluated after 30 days.

Peripheral blood samples were drawn for BNP measurement at the time of randomization and one month later.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Biomarkers, Cardiac Pacing, Artificial, Heart Conduction System, Heart Ventricles, Natriuretic Peptide, Brain, Pacemaker, Artificial and Predictive Value of Tests.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and single-blind study of BNP (Nesiritide) in 35 patients over 30 days.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 4 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2011 (Acta cardiologica), a journal based in England.

More context: the BNP (Nesiritide) compound page, all human trials.