Clinical Chemistry
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Clinical Chemistry 55: 1438-1440, 2009. First published May 28, 2009; 10.1373/clinchem.2009.126847
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
clinchem.2009.126847v1
55/7/1438    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Cantinotti, M.
Right arrow Articles by Clerico, A.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Cantinotti, M.
Right arrow Articles by Clerico, A.
(Clinical Chemistry. 2009;55:1438-1440.)
© 2009 American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Reference Values for Plasma B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in the First Days of Life

Massimiliano Cantinotti2, Simona Storti2, Maria Serena Parri2, Michele Murzi2 and Aldo Clerico2,3,a

2 Fondazione Toscana G. Monasterio, G. Pasquinucci Hospital
3 Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e Perfezionamento Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

aAddress correspondence to this author at:, Laboratory of Cardiovascular Endocrinology and Cell Biology, Fondazione Toscana G. Monasterio, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Via Trieste 41, 56126 Pisa, Italy, Fax (39)-0585-493601, E-mail clerico@ifc.cnr.it

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.


To the Editor:

The clinical relevance of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP)1 and the amino terminal fragment of its prohormone (NT-proBNP) as biomarkers in pediatric heart disease have recently been shown (1)(2). BNP and NT-proBNP concentrations are dependent on age and sex, at least in adults(3). Because commercial methods are affected differently by the presence in plasma of several peptides derived from the degradation of intact prohormone and BNP(3), little if any agreement exists among reported reference intervals, especially those used for infants during the first days of extrauterine life(1).

Data are scarce regarding the reference values for BNP and NT-proBNP in infancy (1)(2)(4). Recently, Nir et al.(2) summarized NT-proBNP concentrations measured with an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay method in 690 healthy individuals (47% males) with ages ranging from birth to 18 years, including 127 newborns in the first week of life (43 in the first 2 days). The NT-proBNP concentrations were highest in the first days of life, and then showed a marked . . . [Full Text of this Article]






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2009 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry.