PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - G. Michael Felker AU - John W. Petersen AU - Daniel B. Mark TI - Natriuretic peptides in the diagnosis and management of heart failure AID - 10.1503/cmaj.060236 DP - 2006 Sep 12 TA - Canadian Medical Association Journal PG - 611--617 VI - 175 IP - 6 4099 - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/175/6/611.short 4100 - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/175/6/611.full SO - CMAJ2006 Sep 12; 175 AB - The natriuretic peptides are a family of related hormones that play a crucial role in cardiovascular homeostasis. They have recently emerged as potentially important clinical markers in heart failure. Recent data have suggested an important role for these markers in establishing the diagnosis of heart failure in patients with unexplained dyspnea in both acute care and ambulatory settings. Other clinical uses of the natriuretic peptides, such as screening for asymptomatic ventricular dysfunction, establishing prognosis or guiding titration of drug therapy, are under investigation but have not yet sufficiently been validated for widespread clinical use.