The aims of this study are to test the hypothesis that clinical stable, educated, and medical optimized patients with CHF with N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels ≥1,000 pg/mL benefit from long-term follow-up in an HFC and to assess the efficacy of NT-proBNP monitoring.
A total of 1,250 clinically stable, medically optimized, and educated patients with CHF will be enrolled from 18 HFCs in Denmark. The patients will be randomized to treatment in general practice, to a standard follow-up program in the HFC, or to NT-proBNP monitoring in the HFC. The patients will be followed for 30 months (median).
Data will be collected from 2006 to 2009. At present (March 2008), 720 patients are randomized. Results expect to be presented in the second half of 2010.
This article outlines the design of the NorthStar study. If our hypotheses are confirmed, the results will help cardiologists and nurses in HFCs to identify patients who may benefit from long-term follow-up. Our results may also indicate whether patients with CHF will benefit from adding serial NT-proBNP measurements to usual clinical monitoring.