Abstract： Objective To determine the diagnosis value of the concentration Nt-proBNP in elderly pa-tients with congestive heart failure. Methods Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method was used to measure the levels of serum Nt-proBNP in 80 patients diagnosed of CHF, and 30 healthy subjects serving as control group. 80 patients were diagnosed as chronic heart failure (CHF) with left ventricular ejection (LVEF) ≤45%. Results The levels of serum Nt-proBNP were much higher in CHF patients than those in the control group(P<0.001). There were significant differences of plasma Nt-proBNP level among NYHA Ⅱ, Ⅲ,and Ⅳ in CHF pa-tients(The 1218±853.4 pmol/ml,2156±1543.5 pmol/ml,3667±2469.0 pmol/ml vs 239±67.76 pmol/ml, P<0.01).The plasma level of Nt-proBNP had significant negative correlation with LVEF (r=-0.735,P<0.01). The cutoff value of Nt-proBNP for diagnosis of CHF was 415 pmol/L. The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive values and negative predictive values was 92.5%,93.3%,97.4% and 82.4%, respectively. Conclu-sion Plasma Nt-proBNP level may be a valuable laboratory plasma marker for diagnosis of congestive heart fail-ure.