[N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide and cardiac involvement in patients with hypertensive disease].

The purpose of this study was to define a correlation between N-terminal proBNP level and extent of cardiac abnormalities. A total of 40 patients with hypertension were included in the study (60.5+/-7.6 years of age; 18 men, 22 women). It was found that patients with hypertension had increased plasma N-terminal proBNP level, that it increased with age and tended to be higher in patients with concentric hypertrophy compared with those with normal geometry and eccentric hypertrophy; however, the differences were not significant. N-terminal proBNP concentration depended on ventricular septal thickness and left ventricular wall thickness. Analysis of association between N-proBNP level and parameters of myocardial diastolic function showed that increased plasma peptide levels correlated with degree of diastolic dysfunction in patients with altered left ventricular relaxation.