Simple blood test ‘could rule out heart attacks and cut A&E visits’

But academics at the University of Edinburgh have shown the new test is highly accurate – and can quickly rule out the risk of a heart attack in two-thirds of patients.

The investigators found that 61 percent of the patients with a troponin level below 5 ng/L (nanograms per liter of blood) were at very low risk of heart attack and could have been discharged early, regardless of age, gender, and risk factors for heart disease.

According to their results, published in The Lancet medical journal, anyone with low levels of a protein called troponin – which is produced by the heart during an attack – in their blood was extremely unlikely to have a heart attack in the next 30 days.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at BHF, said: ‘A faster, more accurate diagnosis of whether chest pain is caused by a heart attack would be better for patients and save the NHS money.

Ruling out a heart attack or distinguishing it from acidity-related chest discomfort got a bit easier.

“Over the last two decades the number of hospital admissions due to chest pain has tripled”, said Shah.

“Until now there was no quick way to rule out a heart attack within the emergency department”, said Dr Shah in a press release put out by Lancet.

He added that these patients are therefore potentially suitable for immediate and safe discharge from the emergency department. Using this test, troponin levels were measured in over 6000 patients with chest pain admitted to four hospitals in Scotland and the USA.

More than a million people end up in local casualty units every year suffering chest pain. Dr Barnali Das from Kokilaben Hospital told TOI that the graph has 99% accuracy and helps them infer whether the patient has suffered from a heart attack or not. Use of this approach is likely to have major benefits for both patients and healthcare providers.

“Trials are needed to assess the safety and effectiveness of clinical pathways that involve no further testing for such patients”, wrote Martin Than from Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand, and colleagues.

Dr Prafulla Kerkar, who heads the cardiology department of civic-run KEM Hospital in Parel, said that the British findings need to be validated using large multi-centric studies. Even a slight increase in the troponin level will often mean there has been a few damage to the heart.