The 'Peptide for Life' Initiative: a call for action to provide equal access to the use of natriuretic peptides in the diagnosis of acute heart failure across Europe.

2016 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure: The Task Force for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). For example, among healthy individuals, BNP concentrations average <=10 pg/mL; interestingly, while NT-proBNP concentrations are often much higher than BNP in the presence of prevalent HF, in healthy individuals NT-proBNP is often as very low as BNP. After the first proof of principle for B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) as a diagnostic aid for acute heart failure (AHF) was reported by Davis I et al i . in 1994,1 the Breathing Not Properly (BNP) study, published in 2002, ushered in a new era for natriuretic peptides (NPs) as companion biomarkers for the diagnosis of heart failure (HF).2 More than just a clinical trial with novel and favourable results, it revolutionized a whole field and introduced biomarkers and the molecular phenotyping of the heart to algorithms in use for HF diagnosis and management. The "Peptide for Life" Initiative: a call for action to provide equal access to the use of natriuretic peptides in the diagnosis of acute heart failure across Europe. [Extracted from the article]