Assessment of Relationship between Serum NT-proBNP Levels with Clinical Features and Prognosis in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients

Background and Aims: We aimed to assess N-terminal pro brain-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients according to clinical and radiological features and to investigate its relationship with short term clinical outcomes. Methods: In our study, 107 patients with AIS were evaluated prospectively. Of all, 56 patients had no evidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) (sinus rhythm [SR] group) (52.3%), 24 patients had paroxysmal AF (pAF group) (22.4%), and the other 27 patients had chronic AF (cAF group) (25.3%). Demographic datas, clinical characteristics, laboratory and radiological findings, CHA2DS2 -VASc scores, NIHSS (National Institute of Health Stroke Scale) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores on admission and at the third month evaluations were recorded. Good functional outcome at 3 months was defined as modified Rankin score (mRS) 2 or less. According to the TOAST (Trial of Org 10172 in Acute StrokeTreatment) and OCSP (Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project) study, ischemic stroke subtyping was performed. Serum NT-proBNP levels were estimated in 107 stroke patients and 24 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Venous blood samples were obtained for serum NT-proBNP measurement within the first 48 hours of the patient group. Results: Mean age of the 107 AIS patients was 68 ± 15.22 years and 58.9% of them were women. Compared to controls, the SR, pAF and cAF groups had higher plasma NT-proBNP levels ( P < 0.001) and also NT-proBN P values were significantly higher in the pAF and cAF group than SR groups ( P < 0.001). NT-proBN P values were significantly higher in cardioembolic (CE) ( n = 57) group than in large artery atherosclerosis (LAA) ( n = 20) and small vessel disease (SVD) ( n = 30) groups ( P < 0.001). NT-proBNP levels of noncardioembolic SR ( n = 49) ( P = 0.080), LAA and SVD groups ( P = 0.103) were higher than the control group but the difference was not statistically significant. There was a positive correlation between NT-proBNP level and third month mRS scores in CE group ( r = 0.491). Conclusions: NT-proBNP will contribute to predict cardioembolic and pAF groups and estimate the prognosis.