NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A simple blood test can help spot emergency department patients with congestive heart failure, potentially getting them the necessary treatment quicker, according to researchers.

Their international study of nearly 1,600 emergency patients with shortness of breath found that the 15-minute test--which measures a hormone called B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP)--was the single most accurate predictor of heart failure in the set of criteria the researchers used.

Congestive heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart loses its ability to pump efficiently, often due to an underlying cardiac problem such as coronary artery disease. Shortness of breath is a prime symptom, but when patients arrive at the emergency department with breathing problems, it can be difficult to distinguish whether it's due to heart failure or other causes.

According to the authors of the new study, the BNP test--used along with other patient information--"should lead to more accurate initial diagnoses of congestive heart failure."

Dr. Alan S. Maisel, of the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues report the findings in the July 18th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The study was partially funded by Biosite Inc., whose Triage BNP test was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2000 to aid in the diagnosis of congestive heart failure.

BNP is a hormone secreted from the heart's ventricles in response to increased pressure and volume in the organ. The hormone helps relieve this stress by promoting the release of fluid and sodium from the body, and BNP levels have been found to be elevated in the blood of people with heart failure.

In the new study, Maisel's team found that out of all patients, 47% were ultimately diagnosed with congestive heart failure. And the BNP test was the single most accurate predictor of heart failure, in a set of criteria that included patients' medical history and chest x-rays.

"The use of this test is increasing, and studies such as this will encourage greater utilization," Dr. Kenneth L. Baughman of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, told Reuters Health. Baughman wrote a commentary published with the report.

He noted that along with confirming heart failure as the cause of patients' shortness of breath, the BNP test can help judge the severity of heart failure, estimate patients' prognosis, and judge the effectiveness of heart failure therapy.

However, Baughman pointed out, the test will not replace echocardiography, which uses ultrasound waves to produce images of the heart in action.

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine 2002;347:161-167.

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