Comparison of the diagnostic accuracy of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the N-terminal part of the propeptide of BNP immunoassays in chronic and acute heart failure: A systematic review

icine principles to compare the diagnostic accuracy of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and the N-terminal part of the propeptide of BNP (NT-proBNP) assays for the diagnosis of heart failure. Methods: In May 2006, we performed a computerized literature search of the online National Library of Med-icine to select studies specifically designed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of BNP and NT-proBNP assays. The comparison took into account the area under the curve and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) derived from ROC analysis of original studies. Results: Both BNP and NT-proBNP assays were found to be clinically useful for the diagnosis of heart failure. Metaanalysis of these data was difficult because of the heterogeneity of data regarding patient population, di