Patent ID: 8062896

Claim:
A method for monitoring the cardiovascular risk in a patient who is being treated with a cox-2 selective inhibiting compound, said method comprising the steps of: (a) measuring a body fluid level of a natriuretic peptide selected from the group consisting of pre-proANP (pre-proatrial natriuretic peptide), proANP (proatrial natriuretic peptide), NT-proANP (N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide), ANP (atrial natriuretic peptide), proBNP (probrain natriuretic peptide), NT-proBNP (N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide), and BNP (brain natriuretic peptide), and (b) correlating the risk of the patient of suffering from a cardiovascular complication, wherein the patient has an increased risk when the measured level of natriuretic peptide is equal to or greater than a known normal level and therein the patient has a decreased risk when the measured level of natriuretic peptide is below a known normal level.