MR-proANP and MR-proADM for risk stratification of patients with acute chest pain

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate mid-regional pro-adrenomedullin (MR-proADM) and mid-regional pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (MR-proANP) as prognostic biomarkers in a representative 'real world' cohort of patients with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

DESIGN: Prospective observational multicentre cohort study.

SETTING: Chest pain units of three major hospitals in Germany from 2007 to 2008.

PATIENTS: Patients presenting with signs and symptoms suggestive of an ACS.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary end point was death or non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI), and secondary end point was death, non-fatal MI, stroke, need for coronary revascularisation, and hospital admission for cardiovascular cause or acute heart failure within 6 months after enrolment.

RESULTS: 1386 patients (male/female = 920/466) were enrolled. Follow-up information was available for 97.8% of patients (median follow-up time 183 days). Forty-three patients reached the primary end point, and 132 the secondary end point. Patients who reached a primary end point had significantly higher MR-proANP (271 vs 101 pmol/l, p < 0.001) and MR-proADM (0.86 vs 0.59 nmol/l, p < 0.001) concentrations than those who did not. Cox regression analysis revealed a 2.55-fold risk of death or non fatal MI (95% CI 1.48 to 2.46, p < 0.001) for an increment of the log-transformed MR-proANP concentration by 1 SD after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, and a 1.91-fold risk (95% CI 1.48 to 2.46, p < 0.001) for MR-proADM. Both peptides could result in significant reclassification of patients when added to the Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events risk score, with an overall net reclassification improvement of 41.2% for MR-proADM and 35.7% for MR-proANP.

CONCLUSIONS: MR-proADM and MR-proANP are predictors of future cardiovascular events in patients presenting with acute chest pain and might facilitate the choice of treatment in those patients complementary to established risk scores.