£5 blood test can predict heart attacks and strokes more accurately

A blood test that can spot “silent heart muscle damage” should be used more widely to predict risk of heart attacks and strokes with greater accuracy, researchers say. The £5 check measures levels of troponin, a protein released into the blood when the heart is damaged. It is already used in hospitals to diagnose heart attacks and can be ordered by GPs.

Now, a study suggests that using the test more widely alongside other measures used to assess cardiovascular health could more accurately identify patients most in danger of serious problems. Current assessments use an algorithm to predict patients’ risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years, which takes into account factors such as cholesterol levels measured using a blood test.

Adding troponin results into the mix made predictions up to four times more accurate than using cholesterol results alone, the study found.

Researchers estimated that for people currently found to be at intermediate risk on routine cardiovascular health assessments, the tests would prevent one heart attack or stroke for roughly every 500 people tested.

Study leader Professor Anoop Shah, an expert in cardiovascular medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “Troponin, even in the normal range, is a powerful indicator of silent heart muscle damage.

“As such, the test provides an extra layer of information that we can use to boost our accuracy when predicting people’s risk.” 

The research, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), looked at data from more than 62,000 people from 15 studies in Europe and North America. They underwent troponin tests and were followed for around 10 years.

Professor Bryan Williams, the BHF’s chief scientific and medical officer, said: “Developments in risk prediction have helped doctors to build effective algorithms that can spot those most at risk of heart attacks and strokes.

“But, with around 100,000 hospital admissions for heart attacks alone in the UK each year, it’s clear that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“This new data suggests adding this blood test to current risk prediction models could help medical professionals identify more people who are at higher risk and deliver advice and treatment to reduce their risk of future heart attack and strokes.”

The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.