(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Early detection is the key to surviving a heart attack, but catching these attacks in time isn't easy.
Now researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, believe they've discovered a blood test that can help. The finding came about through the study of patients with a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Treatment for the condition involves a medical procedure that actually causes a small heart attack.
Since the investigators knew the heart attacks were coming, they decided to see what the patients' blood looked like before and after the procedure, hoping to find some differences that would signal an attack had occurred.
They were able to identify a number of changes in metabolites just ten minutes after the procedure. The findings were confirmed in a second group of patients and also in patients who had spontaneous heart attacks.
The researchers believe this test might identify heart attacks earlier than any other available method.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Investigation, published online September 2, 2008
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