Heart Attacks May Be Predicted Years In Advance
5 years, 7 months ago
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Posted on Aug 29, 2018, 4 p.m.
New methods of reading routine heart scans to pinpoint those at risk has proven successful in its first major trial using technology to detect inflamed plaques that are prone to cause heart attacks by analysing CT images of fat surrounding arteries, as published in The Lancet journal.
Fatal heart attacks may be predicted years in advance based on analysis of computed tomography coronary angiograms to saves lives. Heart attacks typically are caused by inflamed plaques rupturing and blocking blood flow to the heart. It is difficult for doctors to know which plaques are most likely to cause such blockages to determine which patients should be treated with more aggressive forms of therapies.
Someone has a heart attack somewhere in the world every 7 minutes. Scientists are working towards finding methods to help identify patients at risk to be given preventative treatments and advise such patients to adopt lifestyle changes.
Dangerous plaques can release chemical messengers that modify surrounding fat. An international team of researchers has developed a technology that can detect inflamed plaques which are prone to cause fatal heart attacks by analysing CT images of fat surrounding the arteries.
Fat Attenuation Index was tested from upwards of 3,900 subjects in this first time large study who were followed for 10 years after having CT coronary angiograms. FAI technology was found to predict fatal heart attacks before they occurred with superior predictive accuracy, according to the researchers. Subjects with abnormal FAI were found to have had up to 9 times higher risk of fatal heart attack within the next 5 years. Such patients should be ideal candidates for aggressive preventative medical therapy.
Upwards of 100,000 people die from heart attacks or related stroke every year within the UK alone, there is no method currently available for early detection of fatal build up plaque that can trigger heart attacks. This new technology may provide important information being transformative for primary and secondary prevention, as there is now a set of biomarkers derived from routine testing already being used in clinical practice; and knowing who is at elevated risk could allow interventions early enough to prevent it.
This new technique may be a game changer allowing doctors to spot potential time bombs before they go off in patients at risk for heart attack and providing early intensive treatment and encouraging lifestyle choice changes that will most assuredly save lives.
Fatal heart attacks may be predicted years in advance based on analysis of computed tomography coronary angiograms to saves lives. Heart attacks typically are caused by inflamed plaques rupturing and blocking blood flow to the heart. It is difficult for doctors to know which plaques are most likely to cause such blockages to determine which patients should be treated with more aggressive forms of therapies.
Someone has a heart attack somewhere in the world every 7 minutes. Scientists are working towards finding methods to help identify patients at risk to be given preventative treatments and advise such patients to adopt lifestyle changes.
Dangerous plaques can release chemical messengers that modify surrounding fat. An international team of researchers has developed a technology that can detect inflamed plaques which are prone to cause fatal heart attacks by analysing CT images of fat surrounding the arteries.
Fat Attenuation Index was tested from upwards of 3,900 subjects in this first time large study who were followed for 10 years after having CT coronary angiograms. FAI technology was found to predict fatal heart attacks before they occurred with superior predictive accuracy, according to the researchers. Subjects with abnormal FAI were found to have had up to 9 times higher risk of fatal heart attack within the next 5 years. Such patients should be ideal candidates for aggressive preventative medical therapy.
Upwards of 100,000 people die from heart attacks or related stroke every year, there is no method currently available for early detection of fatal build up plaque that can trigger heart attacks. This new technology may provide important information being transformative for primary and secondary prevention, as there is now a set of biomarkers derived from routine testing already being used in clinical practice; and knowing who is at elevated risk could allow interventions early enough to prevent it.
This new technique may be a game changer allowing doctors to spot potential time bombs before they go off in patients at risk for heart attack and providing early intensive treatment and encouraging lifestyle choice changes that will most assuredly save lives.
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https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31114-0/fulltext
https://inews.co.uk/news/health/fatal-heart-attacks-early-warning-system-trial-results/
