Although uric acid (UA) level has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events, it is unclear whether UA can provide greater prognostic information than N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in advanced heart failure with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). UA and NT-proBNP values were obtained from a total of 122 DCM patients. Development of clinical events during follow-up was defined as the composite of cardiac death and readmission for heart failure. During follow-up, there were 18 cardiac events. UA and NT-proBNP values were significantly higher in patients with events. The receiver operating characteristics curve showed the area under the curve for UA was greater than that for NT-proBNP. On multivariate analysis, UA remained the only independent predictor of prognosis. UA concentrations > or =8.7 mg/dL rather than NT-proBNP > or =3800 pg/mL were associated with significantly decreased event-free survival. The authors' findings demonstrated that UA value could be an informative predictor in nonischemic DCM.
2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.