diagnostic value of n-凯发网

background n-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (nt-probnp) is a biomarker useful in diagnosis of pleural effusion due to heart failure. thus far, its overall diagnostic accuracy has not been systematically reviewed. the aim of the present meta-analysis was to establish the overall diagnostic accuracy of the measurement of pleural nt-probnp for identifying pleural effusion due to heart failure. methods after a systematic review of english-language studies, sensitivity, specificity, and other measures of accuracy of nt-probnp concentrations in pleural fluid in the diagnosis of pleural effusion resulting from heart failure were pooled using fixed-effects models. summary receiver operating characteristic curves were used to summarise overall test performance. results eight publications met the inclusion criteria. the summary estimates for pleural nt-probnp in the diagnosis of pleural effusion attributable to heart failure were: sensitivity 0.95 (95% ci 0.92 to 0.97), specificity 0.94 (0.92 to 0.96), positive likelihood ratio 14.12 (10.23 to 19.51), negative likelihood ratio 0.06 (0.04 to 0.09) and diagnostic or 213.87 (122.50 to 373.40). conclusions nt-probnp levels in pleural fluid showed a high diagnostic accuracy and may help accurately differentiate cardiac from non-cardiac conditions in patients presenting with pleural effusion.