Cuthbertson, BrianCard, GemmaCroal, Bernard L.McNeilly, JaneHillis, Graham2008-12-032008-12-032007-09Cuthbertson, B.H., Card, G., Coral, B.L., McNeilly, J., and Hillis, G. (2007). The utility of B-type natriuretic peptide in predicting postoperative cardiac events and mortality in patients undergoing major emergency non-cardiac surgery. Anaesthesia, 62(9), pp.875-881.0003-2409PURE: 349308http://hdl.handle.net/2164/263B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels predict cardiovascular risk in several settings. We hypothesized that they would identify individuals at increased risk of complications and mortality following major emergency non-cardiac surgery.Forty patients were studied with a primary end-point of a new post-operative cardiac event, and/or development of significant ECG changes, and/or cardiac death. The main secondary outcome was all cause mortality at 6 months. Preoperative BNP levels were higher in 11 patients who suffered a new postoperative cardiac event (p=0.001) and predicted this outcome with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.85 (CI=0.72-0.98,p=0.001). A pre-operative BNP value >170pg.ml-1 has a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 79% for the primary end-point. In this small study, pre-operative BNP levels identify patients undergoing major emergency non-cardiac surgery who are at increased risk of early post-operative cardiac events. Larger studies are required to confirm these data.137049 bytes6 p.application/pdfenB-type natriuretic peptidenon-cardiac surgeryemergency surgeryrisk stratificationRD SurgeryJournal Articlehttps://doi.org/https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2044.2007.05146.x