Prognostic value of brain natriuretic peptide in COVID-19 with or without acute heart failure

Background Although Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) provides strong prognostic information of an unfavorable outcome in patients with acute heart failure (AHF), there is little information of its relevance as a biomarker for outcomes in COVID-19 and its complications Purpose To evaluate the association of increased BNP levels with complications and in-hospital mortality in a cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methods The study included COVID-19 patients with data on BNP levels included in the ISACS COVID-19 registry. The population was categorized according to the presence of peak BNP levels ≥100 pg/mL during hospitalization. Primary outcomes included in-hospital mortality, AHF or acute respiratory failure (ARF, defined as PiO2/FiO2 Results Of the 1152 patients included in the study, 615 (53.4%) had elevated BNP levels. These subjects were older (69.9±13.8 vs 59.1±16.8, p-value Conclusions In COVID-19, blood BNP level not only appears to be predictor of in-hospital mortality and AHF but was also independently associated with an increased risk of ARF. This finding supports the routine use of BNP in all patients admitted to hospital for COVID-19, regardless of a prior history of CVD. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.