PRO-ENDOTHELIN-1 FOR THE PREDICTION OF IMPAIRED PEAK OXYGEN CONSUMPTION

1 . An in vitro method as a surrogate for the measurement of peak VO 2 for a subject not having heart failure comprising the steps of:

determining the level of Pro-Endothelin-1 (ProET-1) or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids in a sample obtained from said subject;

using said level of Pro-Endothelin-1 (ProET-1) or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids as a surrogate marker for peak VO 2 .

2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the sample was taken from said subject at rest and thus resting levels of said Pro-Endothelin-1 (ProET-1) or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids are determined.

3 . A method according to claim 1 for the assessment of severely impaired peak oxygen consumption.

4 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the level of Pro-Endothelin-1 (ProET-1) or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids is measured in addition to WL max and wherein the measurement of Pro-Endothelin-1 (ProET-1) or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids leads to an improvement in the accuracy of WL max for the prediction of impaired peak VO 2 .

5 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the level of proBNP or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids including BNP or NT-proBNP is additionally measured.

6 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein CT-proET-1 is measured and a threshold value of 74.4 (+/−20%) pmol/L is used.

7 . A method according to claim 5 , wherein BNP is measured and a threshold value of 35.9 (+/−20%) pg/mL is used.

8 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said sample is selected from the group comprising a blood sample, a serum sample, and a plasma sample.

9 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said level of Pro-Endothelin-1 (ProET-1) or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids is measured with a sandwich immunoassay.

10 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein further to the determination of the level of Pro-Endothelin-1 (ProET-1) or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids a number of n additional markers having a correlation to peak VO 2 are measured and wherein a value of 1 or 0 is addressed to each marker, depending whether the result obtained for said marker is indicative of an increased probability of severely impaired peak oxygen consumption for said subject or not, wherein a score is calculated from the sum of the values addressed to all of said markers, such that a score between 0 and n+1 results, and wherein a higher score is addressed to a higher probability of severely impaired peak oxygen consumption for said subject.

11 . A method according to claim 10 , wherein the additional markers are FEV 1 , body mass index, alveolar-arterial gradient, presence of diabetes and proBNP or fragments thereof of at least 12 amino acids including BNP or NT-proBNP.

12 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein said subject is a candidate for non-cardiac surgery.