Predicting risk of coronary events and all-cause mortality: role of B-type natriuretic peptide above traditional risk factors and coronary artery calcium scoring in the general population: the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study

Several biomarkers including B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) have been suggested to improve prediction of coronary events and all-cause mortality. Moreover, coronary artery calcium (CAC) as marker of subclinical atherosclerosis is a strong predictor for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. We aimed to evaluate the predictive ability of BNP and CAC for all-cause mortality and coronary events above traditional cardiovascular risk factors (TRF) in the general population.

We followed 3782 participants of the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall cohort study without coronary artery disease at baseline for 7.3 ± 1.3 years. Associations of BNP and CAC with incident coronary events and all-cause mortality were assessed using Cox regression, Harrell’s c, and time-dependent integrated discrimination improvement (IDI(t), increase in explained variance).

Subjects with high BNP levels had increased frequency of coronary events and death (coronary events/mortality: 14.1/28.2% for BNP ≥100 pg/ml vs. 2.7/5.5% for BNP < 100 pg/ml, respectively). Subjects with a BNP ≥100 pg/ml had increased incidence of hard endpoints sustaining adjustment for CAC and TRF (for coronary events: hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) 3.41(1.78–6.53); for all-cause mortality: HR 3.35(2.15–5.23)). Adding BNP to TRF and CAC increased measures of predictive ability: coronary events (Harrell’s c, for coronary events, 0.775–0.784, p = 0.09; for all-cause mortality 0.733–0.740, p = 0.04; and IDI(t) (95% CI), for coronary events: 2.79% (0.33–5.65%) and for all-cause mortality 1.78% (0.73–3.10%).

Elevated levels of BNP are associated with excess incident coronary events and all-cause mortality rates, with BNP and CAC significantly and complementary improving prediction of risk in the general population above TRF.