N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in healthy blood donors and in patients from general practitioners with and without a diagnosis of cardiac disease.

Abstract

Based on the assumption that individuals below the age of 50 years are healthy, reference values based on the 97.5th percentile were established. These values were considered to be normal. The presented data and data from the literature suggest that also in the elderly population a cut-off level of 125 pg/ml is useful either to exclude cardiac dysfunction in symptomatic individuals or to risk stratify elderly individuals in terms of the necessity for intervention.