Abstract
Objective: This is the first case report of association of raised brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in patients with dengue fever (DF). BNP is raised in patients with heart failure. It can also be elevated in renal failure and subarachnoid haemorrhage in the absence of heart failure. Raised BNP has never been described in patients with DF.
Clinical features: We describe a young patient with DF who complained of sudden onset breathlessness on day 3 of admission. She was found to have right sided crepitations. Myocardial screen was done which was negative but BNP was 3555 pg/ml. Her SpO2 and arterial blood gas while breathing room air was normal. There was no elevated jugular venous pressure, pedal edema or laboratory evidence of heart failure. There was no renal impairment or systemic inflammatory response syndrome. A transthoracic 2-dimensional echocardiography was normal.
Treatment: Patient was treated with intravenous fluids and oral clarithromycin for 5 days.
Outcome: Patient was discharged on day 8 of admission. She was well but follow-up BNP was high but on downward trend. She refused any further invasive investigations for heart.
Conclusions: BNP may be raised in patient with DF without heart failure. The exact pathogenesis of raised BNP in DF is unclear.
Ashish A. Sule, Dessmon YH Tai, Koh N Yue, Veerendra Chadachan, Kenneth Ng
