Monday, March 26, 2012
Blood test
A simple blood test can predict heart attacks
Oddly-Shaped Cells Can Be Reliable Indicators
US researchers have found oddly-shaped blood cells in heart attack
patients, indicating that a blood test could help predict whether a
patient is at risk of an imminent cardiac emergency.
The study by the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) found
that the endothelial blood cells from heart attack patients are
abnormally large and misshapen, sometimes appearing with multiple
nuclei.
That could make them reliable indicators of an impending heart attack,
according to the study published this week in Science Translational
Medicine.
"The ability to diagnose an imminent heart attack has long been
considered the holy grail of cardiovascular medicine," said EricTopol,
the study's main investigator and director of STSI.
Doctors have long been able to identify risk factors — such as
smoking, obesity and high cholesterol — that can put patients at
greater danger of heart disease, but cannot predict imminent attacks.
The study involved 50 patients who showed up at emergency rooms with
heart attacks and who were found to have the unusually shaped cells.
"With some additional validation, the hope is to have this test
developed for commercial use in next year or two," said researcher/
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