the role of nt-probnp in the diagnosis of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with systemic

Background: in patients with systemic sclerosis, nt-probnp is a useful diagnostic marker for pulmonary hypertension and ventricular dysfunction, with important prognostic significance. the aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the nt-probnp levels and the presence and severity of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with scleroderma. methods: forty consecutive patients with a diagnostic of systemic sclerosis according to the eular criteria admitted at the rheumatology clinic of cluj-napoca, romania, from jan 2014 to apr 2014 were enrolled. patients underwent a 12-lead ecg and a 24-hour holter ecg monitoring for ventricular arrhythmias evaluation. blood sample testing (including nt-probnp level measurements), echocardiography, spirometry, chest x-ray and, when considered appropriate, high-resolution chest ct were performed. results: sixty percent of patients (n=24) had abnormal nt-probnp serum levels (>125 pg/ml) and 10 patients had >100 pvc /24 h. there was a statistically significant correlation between the nt-probnp levels and the total number of premature ventricular contractions (pvc) (r=0.445, p=0.006), total number of isolated pvc (r=0,493, p=0.002), total number of ventricular couplets (r=0.379, p=0.021) and the number of pvc morphologies (r=0.501, p=0.002). the presence of an nt-probnp serum level >287 pg/ml had a sensitivity of 55% and a specificity of 93% in predicting the presence of complex ventricular arrhythmias on 24-hour holter ecg monitoring. conclusion: nt-probnp levels could become a useful ventricular arrhythmia marker for assessing the arrhythmic risk in patients with systemic sclerosis.