Improved blood test could help to identify those patients with heart disease most at risk of a future heart attack

Heart attacks could be diagnosed more effectively by using a sensitive test that can measure the proteinCompounds that form the structure of muscles and other tissues in the body, as well as comprising enzymes and hormones., troponinA group of proteins found in muscle., which leaks out of damaged heart cells into the bloodA fluid that transports oxygen and other substances through the body, made up of blood cells suspended in a liquid. stream. The test could also help patients who have already suffered a small heart attackThe death of a section of heart muscle caused by an interruption in its blood supply. Also called a myocardial infarction. and are at a high risk of dying from a second attack. 

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh used a new test to detect very low levels of troponin, which is released into the blood when heart muscleTissue made up of cells that can contract to bring about movement. cells have been damaged. The protein can be measured to find out if patients suffering chest pains have suffered a heart attack. 

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said:

"This promising study shows us that by using a more sensitive test for heart muscle damage than is currently being used, more patients who come to hospital with chest pain could be identified as having suffered a small heart attack.

"Over recent years it has become clear that people who suffer heart pain but only a small amount of heart damage are at a very high risk of going on to have a larger, potentially fatal heart attack if left untreated. This test will help doctors identify this vulnerable group of patients. If further studies corroborate these findings there will be considerable pressure on the NHS to adopt the new test as the standard for patients with chest pain."

The research was conducted by the University of Edinburgh, which is one of the British Heart Foundation’s Centres of Research Excellence. Results from the study are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.