Red blood cell distribution width in addition to N-terminal prohormone of B-type natriuretic peptide concentration improves assessment of risk of cardiovascular events in adult patients with congenital heart disease

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of BNP (Nesiritide), published as an observational study.

To establish predictors of high RDW values in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), and their relationship with cardiovascular events.

Why It Was Studied

Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a predictor of adverse outcomes in patients with heart disease.

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 561 patients were involved.

The age groups tagged for this paper are teenagers, young adults, adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

Exclusion criteria were renal failure, anaemia, receiving iron therapy and cyanosis.

C-reactive protein and N-terminal prohormone of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) concentrations were also measured in patients with CHD.

How the Study Was Run

Blood tests included glucose, creatinine, iron, apoferritin, liver enzymes and a complete blood count.

Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were defined as cardiovascular/total mortality, arterial thrombotic events, arrhythmias, major bleedings, pulmonary embolism or heart failure needing hospital admission.

What Was Measured

Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a predictor of adverse outcomes in patients with heart disease.

The subject headings attached to it are Biomarkers, Case-Control Studies, Erythrocyte Indices, Heart Defects, Congenital, Natriuretic Peptide, Brain, Peptide Fragments and Predictive Value of Tests.

Author keywords: Cardiopathie congénitale, Congenital heart disease, Haemoglobin, Hémoglobine, NT-pro-BNP and NT-proBNP.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is an observational study of BNP (Nesiritide) in 561 patients.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2020 (Archives of cardiovascular diseases), a journal based in Netherlands.

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