الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Heart failure is a term used to describe a heart that cannot keep up with its work load. The body may not get the oxygen it needs. The term is heart failure-but it may also be described as an action: the heart is failing. A nor-mally chronic, irreversible and progressive condition, heart failure arises when the weakened heart muscle is not able to pump all the blood which con-tains oxygen and nutrients, a body‟s cell need.
B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a 32-amino acid peptide primarily secreted by the cardiac ventricles in response to increased myocardial wall stress due to volume overload or higher end-diastolic pressure inside the ventricle itself.
Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), also referred to as B-type natriuretic peptide has emerged an important biomarker with established rule in the diagnosis of congestive heart failure and in predicting long-term morbidity and mortality, furthermore, clinical trials are currently underway to determine if serial BNP measurements have a role in guiding the titration of congestive heart failure therapies.
This study was carried out on 60 children of various etiologies. 30 children admitted to pediatric intensive care unit of Menoufia University Hospital with symptoms of acute heart failure or worsening of chronic heart failure, and 30 apparently healthy children as controls.