A newly developed blood test could quickly and accurately diagnose or rule out a heart attack, scientists including one of the Indian-origin say. Researchers at King's College London investigated how many heart muscle cells needed to die before they could be detected in the bloodstream. In patients suspected of having suffered a heart attack, only a small proportion are shown as having diagnostic changes on a heart trace or electrocardiogram (ECG).
This means that their assessment is reliant on the use of blood tests measuring biomarkers such as cardiac Troponin (cTn) to exclude a heart attack. Troponin is a heart muscle protein released upon injury and can be detected after heart attacks or heart muscle inflammation. As a result, doctors are able to rule-out heart attacks with a single blood test, as patients with undetectable levels of cardiac Troponin are classified as low risk and…
