Widely-used heart imaging techniques could help reveal hidden damage from a common but often overlooked kind of heart attack, new research suggests.
There are currently no guidelines for doctors on how best to treat a patient after they are diagnosed with a type 2 heart attack.
This means that few patients undergo further testing or treatment, and only a third survive beyond five years.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that performing a combination of heart scans on patients suspected of having a type 2 heart attack can drastically increase diagnosis of underlying conditions.
This would allow patients to be treated more quickly, potentially preventing a second heart attack.
Dr Andrew Chapman, British Heart Foundation (BHF)-funded researcher at the University of Edinburgh who led the study, said:
“We’ve provided much-needed evidence that heart imaging tools already available in hospitals can spot hidden heart conditions in people with this type of heart attack that we now know is common but often overlooked.
“These conditions can be easily treated once identified and we hope these results, combined with our upcoming clinical trial, will bring us closer to the first guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of a type 2 heart attack.”
Type 2 heart attacks occur in about 15 per cent of people with heart damage. Unlike ‘traditional’ type 1 attacks, these events do not involve a blockage.
Instead, type 2 heart attacks occur as a result of illness that puts the body under stress, and oxygen being breathed cannot meet the demands of the heart.
Researchers analysed different heart scans of 100 people who had been diagnosed with a type 2 heart attack using an ECG and a troponin blood test.
They used an angiogram to look at blood vessels in the heart and echocardiogram and heart MRI scans to look in real-time at the structure and function of the heart.
The research showed that two-thirds of the patients had coronary artery disease and one third had heart muscle weakness – both conditions are easily treatable.
More than 50 patients were given a new diagnosis and seven were rediagnosed as having had a type 1 heart attack.
The team now intends to conduct a clinical trial with a view to expanding the research to the international level.
BHF medical director, Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, said:
“Thankfully, more people than ever are surviving heart attacks. However, survival rates for a type 2 heart attack are much lower than a traditional heart attack.
“We urgently need new guidance for doctors on how to assess and treat these patients, which this research provides.
“This is a vital step towards helping people make a better recovery and reduce their risk of a second heart attack, heart failure and even death.”
