Background: The optimal treatment strategy for patients with coronary intermediate lesions, defined as diameter stenosis of 50-70%, remains a great challenge for cardiologists. Identification of potential biomarkers predictive of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) risk may assist in risk stratification and clinical decision.
Methods: A total of 1,187 patients with intermediate coronary lesions and available N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels were enrolled in the current study. A baseline NT-proBNP level was obtained. The primary endpoint was defined as MACEs, the composite endpoint of all-cause death and non-fatal myocardial infarction. A multivariate Cox regression model was used to explore the association between NT-proBNP level and MACE risk.
Results: The mean age of the study cohort was 59.2 years. A total of 68 patients experienced MACE during a median follow-up of 6.1 years. Restricted cubic spline analysis delineated a linear relationship between the baseline NT-proBNP level and MACE risk. Both univariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that an increased NT-proBNP level was associated with an increased risk of MACE [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) per doubling: 1.412, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.022-1.952, p = 0.0365]. This association remains consistent in clinical meaningful subgroups according to age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and diabetes.
Conclusion: An increased NT-proBNP level is associated with an increased risk of MACE in patients with intermediate coronary lesions and may serve as the potential biomarker for risk stratification and treatment decision guidance.
Keywords: MACE; NT-proBNP; biomarker; coronary artery disease; intermediate coronary lesions.
Copyright © 2022 Song, Yuan, Cui, Cai, Zhang, He, Qiao, Bian, Wu, Wang, Fu, Wang, Liu, Yin, Jia and Dou.