NPPB and Hypertension: Death most frequently occurred following MI and the patients who died tended to be older, have a higher NYHA functional class, lower LVEF, have more severe hypertension, were more likely to have used nitrates and to have higher concentrations of NT-pro-BNP, hs-CRP, T4, fT4 and lower concentrations of fT3 during the rehabilitation period at baseline assessment, as compared to survivors (Table 1).