A blood test should be able to tell if a patient’s chest pains are actually a heart attack in a matter of minutes
New research backed by the British Heart Foundation has developed a blood test that could inform people if they are suffering a heart attack within minutes. Currently, when someone arrives at hospital with chest pains, medics take blood samples for laboratory analysis to check for troponin, a protein released into the bloodstream when the heart sustains damage.
However, obtaining the results can take up to two hours, which delays decisions and treatment for patients who may be facing a critical medical emergency. Scientists have now devised a fresh method to test for this protein that can be conducted immediately and could reveal whether someone has suffered a heart attack within 20 minutes.
Utilising this innovative test in research headed by Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand, it discovered that people given these rapid examinations across six hospitals were either admitted to a ward or discharged home 47 minutes quicker on average.
These examinations are already being used in some British hospitals, with researchers hoping it could help address lengthy delays and overcrowding in the NHS’s emergency departments.
The scientists also believe it could be deployed in GP practices and chest pain clinics to help detect people whose heart attacks might otherwise go unnoticed.
Nicholas Mills, BHF Professor of Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, said: “When people go to the emergency department fearing they have had a heart attack, a blood sample is taken and sent to another part of the hospital for analysis in a lab.
“By the time the results are available, it is likely the doctor or nurse will have been called away, so there are unfortunate and unintended delays in making decisions for patients.
“The average turnaround for a lab troponin test can be as long as two hours, so tests which can be performed in real-time within minutes are far better for patients, reducing anxiety as they wait for an answer on what is happening to them.”
Professor Mills, who contributed to the study’s design, stated: “Crucially, these tests could also ease some of the pressure on overcrowded emergency departments, helping people move through more quickly.”
The research also revealed that the rate of people dying from cardiovascular disease or suffering a heart attack in the 30 days following their emergency department visit was similar regardless of whether they had a standard or rapid test.
This confirmed that using the quicker test allowed for faster decisions but didn’t increase the risk of missing heart attacks.
The test involves placing a drop of blood on a cartridge and inserting it into a device that then analyses the troponin levels on the spot to assist doctors in providing a diagnosis.