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Subject Area

General Surgery

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) level as a predictor of myocardial dysfunction in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represents a major health issue worldwide because of its burden of chronic liver disease and extrahepatic manifestations including cardiovascular diseases. Elevated NT-pro-BNP levels were observed in CHC, free of heart failure. Patients and methods This study was carried out on CHC patients (n = 45) (mean age: 45.6 ± 7.3 years) and sex-matched and age-matched healthy controls (n = 35). All participants were subjected to a full assessment of history, clinical examination, ECG and abdominal ultrasound, and FibroScan for cases. Blood samples were obtained for the HCV antibody, hepatitis B surface antigen, liver and renal function tests, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, NT-pro-BNP, and HCV RNA quantification for cases. Results The NT-pro-BNP concentration of the CHC patients (mean: 120.6 ± 72.6 pg/ml) was significantly higher than that of the controls (mean: 36.1 ± 28.1 pg/ml) (P = 0.001). Eighty percent of the CHC patients had high NT-pro-BNP (>65 pg/ml; the cut-off value of NT-pro-BNP) and 28.9% of the CHC patients had high NT-pro-BNP (>125 pg/ml; the proposed cut-off value for heart failure <75 years of age). Multivariate analysis showed that chronic HCV infection was correlated independently with high NT-pro-BNP. Conclusion Our study suggests that chronic HCV infection is associated with increased NT-pro-BNP, indicating that it might induce myocardial dysfunction.

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