Published in:
Open Access
01-12-2019 | Septicemia | Letter
NT-proBNP levels might predict outcomes in severe sepsis, but renal function cannot be ignored
Authors:
Jiarong Ye, Qianrong Liang, Xiaotu Xi
Published in:
Critical Care
|
Issue 1/2019
Login to get access
Excerpt
We read with great interest the article by Carlo Custodero et al. recently published in
Critical Care [
1]. The authors concluded that NT-proBNP levels during the acute phase of sepsis may be a useful indicator of higher risk of long-term impairments in physical function and muscle strength in sepsis survivors. However, the article overlooks the association of NT-proBNP and renal function in septic patients. Studies have shown that acute kidney injury is a common complication of sepsis and is significantly associated with mortality [
2,
3], whereas the studies by Gergei et al. [
4] and Roberts et al. [
5] indicated that NT-proBNP plasma level has shown an exponential increase with declining glomerular filtration rate. Thus, it did not seem persuasive that NT-proBNP could completely predict outcomes without adjusting for the covariate of renal function. We suggest the relationship of the NT-proBNP levels during the acute phase of sepsis and physical function and muscle strength outcomes in sepsis survivors be stratified based on the renal function. …