Cardiac hormones for assessing cardiovascular risk

A method for diagnosing the cardiovascular risk of a patient who is a candidate for administration of a selective cox-2 inhibitor or for monitoring the cardiovascular risk in a patient who is being treated with a selective cox-2 inhibitor, wherein a body fluid or tissue sample of the patient is taken and the level of a cardiac hormone is measured by a diagnostic means capable of measuring said hormone.

A method of deciding whether to initiate treatment of a patient with a compound having cox-2 inhibiting properties, the method comprising:

• (a) measuring in vitro the level of a cardiac hormone in the patient, and
• (b) diagnosing a risk of the patient by comparing the measured level with a known level associated with a different grade of risk in the patient, wherein, if the risk is diagnosed not to be increased, then initiation of treatment is recommended, and if the risk is diagnosed to be increased or highly increased, then refraining from the treatment is recommended in consideration of the result of an examination of the patient by a cardiologist.

A method for diagnosing the cardiovascular risk of a patient who is a candidate for administration of a selective cox-2 inhibitor, comprising the steps of

• (a) measuring the level of a cardiac hormone, and
• (b) diagnosing the risk of the patient by comparing the measured level to known levels associated with different grades of risk in a patient.

A method for diagnosing the risk of a patient to suffer from coronary heart disease or stroke as a consequence of administration of a selective cox-2 inhibitor, wherein the method is carried out before the selective cox-2 inhibitor is administered, comprising the steps of

• (a) measuring the level of NT-proBNP or a variant thereof in a plasma or serum sample from the patient, and
• (b) diagnosing the risk of the patient by comparing the measured level to known levels associated with different grades of risk in a patient, wherein a plasma or serum level of 100 pg/ml of NT-proBNP or higher is associated with an increased risk of suffering from a cardiovascular complication.

A method of deciding whether a patient may be treated with a selective cox-2 inhibitor, the method comprising:

• (a) measuring the level of NT-proBNP or a variant thereof in a plasma or serum sample from the patient, and
• (b) deciding about the treatment in consideration of the result of an examination of the patient by a cardiologist, wherein, if the measured plasma or serum level of NT-proBNP is 100 pg/ml or higher, particularly 125 pg/ml or higher, it is recommended not to treat the patient or to approve treatment under cardiovascular monitoring and at low dosage of the selective cox-2 inhibitor, and if the measured measured plasma or serum level of NT-proBNP is 400 pg/ml or higher, then it is recommended not to treat the patient.

A method to determine whether treatment of a patient with an anti-inflammatory drug may be initiated, said method comprising measuring the level of NT-proBNP or a variant thereof in a plasma or serum sample from the patient, wherein a measured plasma or serum level of NT-proBNP of 100 pg/ml or higher indicates that treatment should not be initiated.