Copeptin May Help Predict CV Death in Elderly HF Patients

May 24th, 2011

Copeptin May Help Predict CV Death in Elderly HF Patients

Larry Husten, PHD

The biomarker copeptin, which is a surrogate marker of vasopressin, may help predict the risk for death in elderly heart failure patients, according to a new study in JAMA. Urban Alehagen and colleagues followed 470 elderly HF patients from 1996 through 2009, during which time there were 226 deaths from any cause and 146 deaths from cardiovascular causes. They found that copeptin was an independent predictor of death and also contributed additional prognostic information when used in tandem with the established biomarker NT-proBNP.

Death from any cause occurred in 69.5% of patients in the highest quartile of copeptin versus 38.5% of patients in the lowest quartile (HR 2.04, CI 1.38-3.02). For NT-proBNP, the death rate was 75.9% in the highest quartile versus 28.3% in the lowest quartile.

CV mortality was 46.6% in patients in the highest quartile of copeptin versus 26.5% in patients in the lowest quartile (HR 1.94, CI 1.20-3.13). For NT-proBNP, the CV death rate was 56.9% in the highest quartile versus 15.9% in the lowest quartile.

Among subjects with low concentrations of both markers, the CV survival rate was 74.6%, compared with 23.0% in those with high concentrations of both markers.

The authors say their results “suggest that vasopressin may be a potential target for therapeutic intervention.”

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May 24th, 2011