John Cleland
Maarten Simoons
REFERENCE: Hot Line 1 Sunday 11:00 2 Sept, European Society of Cardiology Congress, 2007, 1-5 September, Vienna, AustriaJOHN CLELAND, University of HullCOMMENT: MAARTEN SIMOONS, Erasmus University, RotterdamA new blood test using brain natriuretic peptide or BNP could become the primary step for diagnosing heart failure. This is according to the latest results from the Perindopril for Elderly People with Chronic Heart Failure or PEP-CHF study that measured levels of BNP in heart failure patients who had previously had echocardiograms. It found that many patients had been misdiagnosed. These results suggest that the BNP test should go before the echocardiogram for diagnosing patients with heart failure. Sarah Maxwell discussed the findings with study authorJohn Clelandat the ESC meeting in Vienna.Maarten Simoonsof Erasmus University in Rotterdam commented on the PEP study findings.