To analyze the correlation of serum cholinesterase (CHE), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and procalcitonin (PCT) levels with cardiac function and their prognostic value in patients with heart failure (HF) complicated with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) to provide a basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

A total of 296 patients with HF and CAP admitted to the Department of Cardiology of Wuhan Eighth Hospital of Hubei Province from February 2019 to March 2020 were selected as a study group; 50 patients with simple CAP in the same period were selected as a CAP group and 50 patients with simple HF as an HF group. The levels of serum CHE, NT-proBNP, and PCT at admission and cardiac function grade, clinical characteristics, and 28-day mortality were compared among the three groups. The 28-day mortality of the study group was followed, and the patients were divided into a death group (58 cases) and a survival group (238 cases) according to the prognosis.

With the increase of cardiac function grade, serum CHE level decreased gradually, while serum NT-proBNP and PCT levels increased gradually (P＜0.05). Serum CHE, NT-proBNP, and PCT levels were correlated with cardiac function classification (P＜0.05). The areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of serum CHE, NT-proBNP, and PCT levels in predicting the prognosis of patients were 0.734, 0.685, and 0.718, respectively (P＜0.05). When the three markers were combined together, the AUC increased to 0.907.

The decrease of serum CHE level and the increases of serum NT-proBNP, PCT levels in HF patients with CAP are correlated with the damage of cardiac function, which can help to predict the short-term prognosis of patients. Combined detection of the markers can significantly improve the prediction efficiency.