B.B.C. Breakfast the other morning ran an item about a new blood test which can detect whether a patient with chest pain has had a heart attack. I publish below the following gleaned from several websites:
According to the B.H.F. (British Heart Foundation), a clinical trial which they have funded at the University of Edinburgh has shown that using a very sensitive blood test could rule out a heart attack in around two thirds of people arriving at A & E with chest pain.
The research, published on 8th October in 'The Lancet,' involved over 6,000 people at 4 Scottish and U.S. hospitals with chest pain. The researchers evaluated the best way to use a blood test to measure troponin, a protein released from the heart during a heart attack and found the threshold at which they could rule out a heart attack and safely send people home.
Professor Jeremy Pearson, from the B.H.F., said "A faster and more accurate diagnosis of whether chest pain is caused by a heart attack would be better for patients and save the N.H.S. money. No-one wants to be in hospital unless they have to be."
"What's important about this study is that the evidence shows you can quickly and confidently rule out a heart attack without compromising patient safety."
