New Blood Test for the Prediction and Complications of Sickle Cell Disease

The hormone, called brain natriuretic peptide or BNP, is released by the heart ventricles and helps predict death in heart failure patients. The new study is published in the July 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Sickle cell anemia is one of the most common genetic blood disorders in the United States. About 30 percent of sickle cell patients have pulmonary hypertension. In this condition, there is constant high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries that supply the lungs. This pressure leads to narrowed arteries, causing the heart to work harder to pump blood. Pulmonary hypertension often leads to heart failure and it is a major risk factor for death in adults with sickle cell disease. Currently, echocardiograms and other heart tests are used to diagnose pulmonary hypertension, but there has not been a blood test to help detect the condition.

Previous research has found that in patients with pulmonary hypertension, higher levels of BNP are associated with greater pressure in the pulmonary arteries. NHLBI researchers theorized that BNP levels might also correlate with the severity of pulmonary hypertension and risk of death in sickle cell patients.

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Message posted by: Rashmi Nemade