Could a Simple Blood Test Show the Early Onset of a Heart Attack?

Recent research shows that a simple blood test may be able to predict how a person suffers from a heart attack via the identification of certain markers found in the blood stream.

According to researchers from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), they compared heart attack survivors with healthy individuals to find that the circulating endothelial cells (CECs) in the bloodstream can indicate a risk of suffering from a heart attack.

The endothelium, known as the thin, inner lining of a blood vessel, may have build-up due to fatty deposits found in artery walls. This can lead to inflammation and possibly cause blood clots. As previous research has directly linked presence of endothelial cells in the blood stream to a heart attack, lead study author Peter Kuhn and his team worked to develop a new technology known as High-Definition Circulating Endothelial Cell (HD-CEC) assay.

The technology was tested on 79 people with a history of a recent heart attack, as well as 25 healthy people and seven patients with vascular disease.

The study shows that heart attack patients had significantly higher levels of these cells in their blood stream when compared to the two other groups.

"The goal of this paper was to establish evidence that these circulating endothelial cells can be detected reliably in patients following a heart attack and do nto exist in healthy controls-which we have achieved," Kuhn said, via a press release, according to BBC News. 

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Physical Biology.