New blood test slashes death rates in patients attending A&E with suspected heart attacks

A blood test is boosting survival of patients attending A&E with a suspected heart attack, a trial found.

The test helps doctors diagnose patients with a heart muscle injury, reducing their chances of dying in the next five years.

Experts said its increased sensitivity means it can spot signs of heart damage that previous tests fail to detect, allowing for better treatment.

The red flag has the potential to stop thousands of repeat heart attacks and deaths, according to the British Heart Foundation funded research.

University of Edinburgh researchers studied the results for nearly 50,000 people who arrived at 10 emergency departments across Scotland with a suspected heart attack between 2013 and 2016.

The test helps doctors diagnose patients with a heart muscle injury, reducing their chances of dying in the next five years

The test works by measuring very low levels of troponin in the blood, a protein released during a heart attack or when the heart is injured due to other heart conditions.

More than 10,000 patients had high troponin levels, a protein released into the blood during a heart attack or when the heart is injured due to other heart conditions.

With the high sensitivity test picking up more subtle warning signs, around one in five of these patients were spotted by the new test – when previously they would have gone unnoticed.

This meant they could receive the specialist heart care needed to avoid more serious events in the future.

Dr Ken Lee, Clinical Lecturer in Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, and the lead author of the study, said: ‘In the past, clinicians could have been falsely reassured by the results of the less sensitive troponin test, discharging patients that appeared to not have heart disease.

‘This new high sensitivity test is the tool they needed, prompting them to look deeper and helping them to identify and treat both heart attacks and less obvious heart problems.

‘In our trial, introducing this test led to an impressive reduction in the number of future heart attacks and deaths seen in this at-risk group.’

While the new test led to improvements for heart attack patients, those with a heart muscle injury caused by other heart conditions, such as heart failure, heart valve conditions and heart arrhythmias saw the greatest benefits.

These patients saw a nearly 10 per cent drop in future hospital admissions and deaths in the five years after getting the new test, compared to those who had the less sensitive test, according to the findings published in the BMJ.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘Such a time-sensitive and life-threatening condition requires the very best diagnostic tests.

‘It is very encouraging to see that the new test trialled here is better at predicting long-term outcomes for these patients, whether they had a heart attack or a different kind of heart injury.’