Is B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) similarly associated with mortality in patients with and without heart failure?

The natriuretic peptides (NPs) B-type NP and N-terminal (BNP and NT-proBNP, respectively) are peptides derived from proBNP (1). Originally reported to be useful diagnostic and monitoring tools for heart failure (HF), as recommended by international guidelines (2), plasma concentrations of NPs have been revealed to be strong predictor of increased risk for death in patients with acute coronary syndromes in the short and long-term period (3-6). Although NPs have been shown to be associated with no only survival of patients in a broad spectrum of cardiac or non-cardiac diseases [e.g., sepsis, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, pulmonary embolism and renal dysfunction (7-9)], but also that in the general population (10), some important questions remain unresolved.