A Prospective Study to Assess the Screening Value of N-terminal Pro-B-type Natriuretic Peptide (NT-proBNP) for the Identification of Patients That Benefit From Additional Cardiac Testing Prior to Vascular Surgery

The purpose of this study is to validate the screening potential of NT-proBNP for the identification of patients scheduled for vascular surgery who would benefit from additional pre-operative cardiac testing. All patients will have NT-proBNP concentrations measured pre-operatively. For low-intermediate risk patients only those with abnormal values will receive further cardiac testing; all high risk patients will be referred for additional testing.