Cardiac Biomarker NTproBNP in Chronic Kidney Disease – A Brief Review

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide health problem [1,2] affecting between 7 – 10% of young individuals (30 – 64 years old) in Europe [2] and approximately 10 – 18% of the population in the USA [3]. In 2013, in Romania, the prevalence of CKD was approximately 13.1%, meaning about 1,900,000 persons, and 13,899 patients were on chronic dialysis [4].
CKD is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity, even from early stages [5-8]. Decreased glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events, even in the absence of other cardiac risk factors [9]. Risk for cardiovascular disease in CKD patients is 10 – 30 times higher than in non-CKD individuals and mortality from cardiovascular diseases (CVD) accounts for approximately 50% from all causes of death in dialysis population [6,10,11,12]. Predisposing features for developing CVD in CKD patients include both traditional and nontraditional – uremia associated – factors [11,12].