NTproBNP as a surrogate biomarker for early screening of pulmonary hypertension in preterm infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Objectivepulmonary hypertension (ph) is a known complication of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (bpd). this study aimed to determine the utility of serial n-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (ntprobnp) levels in the screening of bpd associated ph (bpd-ph) in preterm infants.study designinfants with birth weight <1500 g and <30 week corrected gestational age (cga) were followed with serial ntprobnp levels and echocardiograms (echo). they were divided into control, bpd and bpd-ph groups. statistical analyses included repeated measures analysis of variance and receiver operator curve (roc) generation.resultsinfants in the bpd-ph and bpd group had significantly elevated ntprobnp levels as compared to the control group. roc curves for ntprobnp at 28 weeks cga provided a cut-point of 2329 pg/ml and 578.1 pg/ml for detection of bpd-ph and bpd, respectively.conclusionsntprobnp appears to be a good screening tool to determine the onset of bpd-ph as early as 28 weeks cga.