Heart Murmur and N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide as Predictors of Death in 2977 Consecutive Hospitalized Patients

Detection of a cardiac murmur during routine medical examination of hospitalized patients is associated with increased risk of death within a year. A blood test for NT-pro-BNP gives significant additional prognostic information of a murmur and could obviate the need for echocardiography in selected patients with a murmur and normal NT-pro-BNP for whom surgery is not feasible.