Prognostic role of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in asymptomatic hypertensive and diabetic patients in primary care: impact of age and gender: Results from the PROBE-HF study

Background: The association between natriuretic peptides and clinical outcome in asymptomatic hypertensive and diabetic patients with no clinical evidence of heart failure (HF) is still unclear. We assessed the prognostic value of NT-pro BNP, and its interactions with age and gender, in a cohort of asymptomatic, stage A/B HF hypertensive and diabetic patients enrolled in primary care. Methods: NT-proBNP was measured in 1012 asymptomatic subjects with systemic hypertension and/or type-2 diabetes (age 66.6 ± 7.8 years, 48 % males) with no clinical evidence of HF. Patients were prospectively followed over 49.8 ± 6.7 months for the development of cardiac death, HF hospitalization, and nonfatal myocardial infarction. Results: Patients with NT-proBNP above the 80th age- and gender-specific percentile showed a threefold risk of events as compared to those with NT-proBNP under this cut-off [hazard ratio 3.2 (2.6–8.3), p < 0.0001]. In multivariable analysis, NT-proBNP added independent and incremental prognostic information to a predictive model including established risk factors (p < 0.0001). After stratification by age, increased NT-proBNP predicted outcome among patients in the second and third age tertiles, but not among those in the first tertile. Increased NT-proBNP was associated with a 3.6-fold risk in women and a 2.9-fold risk in men. Addition of the gender-NT-proBNP interaction to prognostic models further improved prediction of events (p = 0.014). Conclusions: NT-proBNP measurement adds independent and incremental information for the prediction of clinical outcome in asymptomatic, stage A-B HF hypertensive and diabetic patients taken from primary care. This prognostic value might be further evident in the elderly and among women.