Despite significant furtherance in the medical management of heart failure (HF), readmission and mortality following HF hospitalization are significantly high. Traditionally, optimization of medical therapy, which includes angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, beta-blockers, diuretics, and aldosterone antagonist is mainly guided by symptomatology and patient tolerance. Left ventricular wall stretch provokes secretion of plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro BNP (NT-pro BNP), which are proposed as markers to guide and optimize medical therapy.
