Elisa Koljonen, Laura Lappalainen, Sanna Kotiranta, Anu Turpeinen, Ville Vepsäläinen, Satu Kärkkäinen, Jarkko Romppanen, Tuomas Selander, Juha Hartikainen, Jaana Rysä
BACKGROUND: Systolic murmur suggestive of aortic valve origin is a common accidental finding, particularly in the elderly. Usually, it is due to aortic stenosis (AS) or aortic sclerosis (ASc). Currently, echocardiography is used to differentiate AS from ASc. Plasma N-terminal (NT)-prohormone BNP (NT-proBNP) is known to correlate with the severity of AS. We assessed whether NT-proBNP separates AS from ASc. METHODS: The study population consisted of three groups: AS ( n = 87, age 77 ± 7 years), ASc ( n = 76, age 72 ± 10 years), and healthy controls ( n = 101, age 55 ± 10 years)...
November 7, 2023: Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation