American heart journal
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American heart journal · Jan 2007
An obesity paradox in acute heart failure: analysis of body mass index and inhospital mortality for 108,927 patients in the Acute Decompensated Heart Failure National Registry.
Prior studies on chronic systolic heart failure (HF) have demonstrated that body mass index (BMI) is inversely associated with mortality, the so-called obesity paradox. The aim of this study was to determine whether BMI influences the mortality risk in acute decompensated HF, a subject not previously studied. ⋯ In this cohort of hospitalized patients with HF, higher BMI was associated with lower inhospital mortality risk. The relationship between BMI and adverse outcomes in HF appears to be complex and deserving of further study.
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American heart journal · Jan 2007
Association of atrial fibrillation and amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide concentrations in dyspneic subjects with and without acute heart failure: results from the ProBNP Investigation of Dyspnea in the Emergency Department (PRIDE) study.
Amino-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) testing is useful for diagnosis or exclusion of heart failure (HF) in dyspneic patients. Atrial fibrillation (AF) may cause dyspnea in the absence of acute HF and may also affect plasma levels of NT-proBNP. ⋯ Atrial fibrillation is associated with higher NT-proBNP concentrations in dyspneic patients, particularly in those without acute HF.