Patient selection: clinically controlled CHF
Parameters:
(1) serum erythropoietin concentration in mIU/mL (R&D Systems)
(2) serum NT-proBNP in pg/mL (Roche Diagnostics)
(3) left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in percent
(4) high sensitivity C-reactive protein in mg/L (Dade Behring)
|
Parameter
|
Finding
|
Points
|
|
serum erythropoietin
|
<= 23 mIU/mL
|
0
|
|
|
> 23 mIU/mL
|
1
|
|
serum NT-proBNP
|
<= 1,556 pg/mL
|
0
|
|
|
> 1,556 pg/mL
|
1
|
|
LVEF
|
>= 40%
|
0
|
|
|
< 40%
|
1
|
|
C-reactive protein
|
<= 10 mg/L
|
0
|
|
|
> 10 mg/L
|
1
|
where:
• Healthy controls had a serum erythropoietin concentration <= 8.1 mIU/mL.
• Healthy controls had serum CRP <= 6 mg/L. In Tietz's Clinical Guide to Laboratory tests the normal reference range for CRP is given as <= 10 mg/L.
risk factors for CHF-related hospitalization =
= (points for erythropoietin) + (points for NT-proBNP) + (points for CRP)
risk factors for all cause mortality =
= (points for erythropoietin) + (points for NT-proBNP) + (points for LVEF)
Other risk factors:
(1) hemoglobin (correlated with all cause mortality and CHF-related hospitalization, but cutoff values not listed)
(2) NYHA functional class (correlated with CHF-related hospitalization, but cutoff values not listed)
Limitations:
• The cohort of patients with heart failure all had advanced disease. The findings may not extend to patients with milder CHF or those with acute exacerbations (page 1308, second column).
• Although the test assays and linearity range of the assays were given, the reference ranges for the tests were not specified.
