Abstract

Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) in adults is characterized by high circulating levels
of several chemical messengers of cardiac and extracardiac origin, collectively referred to as
neurohormones. The present study was conducted to assess neurohormonal changes in
chronic heart failure.
Materials & Methods: 42 patients of congenital heart disease of both genders were put into
group I. Group II comprised sex and age matched control. The level of atrial natriuretic
peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), epinephrine, norepinephrine and active renin
were determined using immunoradiometric assays,
Results: The level of ANP (pmol/L) was 56.3 and 3.2, BNP (pmol/L) was 35.9 and 5.2, ET-1
(pmol/L) was 2.43 and 0.71, norepinephrine (nmol/L) was 2.16 and 1.52, epinephrine
(nmol/L) was 0.50 and 0.41, renin (pmol/L) was 143.2 and 16.5 and aldosterone (pmol/L)
was 540.2 and 332.6 in group I and II respectively. The difference was significant (P< 0.05).
Conclusion: Neurohormonal activation in adult congenital heart disease bears the hallmarks
of chronic heart failure, relating to symptom severity and ventricular dysfunction.

Key words: congenital heart disease, Neurohormonal activation, ventricular dysfunction