B-type brain natriuretic peptide as a measure of the severity of hand-foot-mouth disease: a case-control study

Abstract Background Hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) is an acute infectious disease caused by enteroviruses, and HFMD complicated by cardiopulmonary failure has a high mortality. B type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is widely applied in monitoring cardiovascular disorders, and thus, we investigated whether this index was associated with the severity of HFMD and the outcome in severe HFMD. Methods Serum BNP, lactate, and glucose levels as well as white blood cell (WBC) count, PaO2/FiO2, and cardiac output (CO) were analyzed in the 83 enrolled HFMD patients according to different conditions (common, severe, and critical; with and without complication; and survivors and non-survivors). The control group consisted of 29 patients with respiratory tract infections. Results No significant differences in CO were observed between the groups. Serum lactate, glucose, BNP, and WBC levels in the critical group were significantly higher than those in the severe, common, and control groups (p