Rodríguez-Blanco S, et al. - In this observational prospective study of preterm infants with GA ≤32 weeks, the researchers evaluated whether N-terminal-probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels could predict the risk of moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and/or death. Results of this study suggested that preterm infants with a hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (HsPDA) who were at high risk of BPD or death could be identified by the NT-proBNP levels at 5-10 days of life and could be beneficial for individualized preventive and therapeutic strategies.

Methods

• This investigation was performed on preterm infants with GA ≤32 weeks.
• Exclusion criteria was infants who died within the first 48 h or who had major congenital malformations or incomplete information.
• Researchers determined NT-proBNP at 48-96 h of life and at 5-10 days of life.
• Using receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and multivariate regression, the predictive capacity of NT-proBNP for the combined outcome of BPD and/or death was assessed.

Results

• Out of 125 eligible patients only 110 completed the analysis.
• They found that 28 patients developed BPD (n = 15) and/or died (n = 13).
• It was observed in the findings that infants who developed BPD and/or died had higher NT-proBNP levels at 48-96 h (26,848 ng/L, interquartile range [IQR] 7818-60,684 vs 3008 ng/L, IQR 1425-9876) and at 5-10 days (8849 ng/L, IQR 3796-19,526 vs 1427 ng/L, IQR 907-2889).
• Findings revealed that the NT-proBNP levels at 5-10 days, but not at 48-96 h, were independently linked with BPD and/or death after adjustments for HsPDA and other confounders (OR = 3.36; 95%CI: 1.52-7.4, P=0.006).
• A cutoff of 3348 ng/L had a sensitivity and specificity of 82% and 83%, respectively (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.87; 95%CI: 0.79-0.95) for the prediction of this result.