New Benefits Found for BNP Assay

A study has found significant differences in the B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) values in normal individuals compared to heart failure patients in four classes of severity, increasing the applications for the assay.

The proportional increase in BNP concentration is about twofold as heart failure severity increases from Class I to II, II to III, and III to IV. Lead investigator Dr. David Morrow (Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA) found that if used when patients arrive at the hospital, the BNP test added significant benefits to the standard tools for assessing a patient's risk of death or developing heart failure.

As a result, the fully automated BNP blood test for use on the Advia Centaur and ACS:180 immunoassay systems of Bayer Diagnostics (Tarrytown, NY, USA) has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for two new applications. One is the prediction of survival in patients after a heart attack or a heart attack in conjunction with other risk factors. The second is the assessment of heart-failure severity in patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF).

The test was initially cleared by the FDA as an aid in the diagnosis of heart failure. While many more people today are surviving heart attacks, many of them will later develop heart failure. Since the BNP molecule is physiologically active, it can detect acute changes in the heart failure patient and provide doctors with an accurate evaluation of the patient's condition at the time blood is drawn.

"The BNP assay expands the comprehensive cardiovascular test panel for the Advia Centaur and gives laboratory professionals the benefit of using proven automated platforms to report results in as little as 18 minutes,” noted Hilda Crockett, market development manager, immunochemistry, Bayer Diagnostics. "BNP tests can also be performed on an emergency (STAT) basis without interruption to the other daily work in the laboratory.”



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Bayer Diagnostics
Brigham and Women's Hospital