From Hokkaido to ACC: NT-proBNP Screening for Pre-Heart Failure in Rural Japan | JACC Baran

Hosts Mitsuaki Sawano, MD, and Nobuhiro Ikemura, MD, welcome Yuichiro Mori, MD, MPH, a physician-scientist at Kyoto University, to discuss his ACC.25 poster presentation on biomarker-based pre-heart failure screening using NT-proBNP, conducted in a rural Japanese city in Hokkaido. Drawing from a screening cohort of 1,585 individuals aged 40–74 in Furano, the study integrated NT-proBNP testing into Japan's routine general health checkups. Dr. Mori shares key takeaways from the study and emphasizes how even single-site efforts, when well-structured and strategically communicated, can gain recognition at major global meetings like ACC.