New blood test ‘could aid rapid detection of heart attacks’

UK researchers have highlighted the benefits of a new blood test that can offer rapid identification of heart attacks.

King's College London researchers have evaluated the benefits of the cMyC test among nearly 2,000 people admitted to hospitals in Switzerland, Italy and Spain with acute chest pain.

The test works by measuring levels of cardiac myosin-binding protein C in the blood, which have been shown to rise more rapidly and to a higher extent after a heart attack than troponin proteins, the marker that is most commonly tested at present.

It was shown that cMyC testing performed better in providing patients with an all-clear within the first three hours of presenting with chest pain than a troponin test.

Dr Tom Kaier, one of the lead researchers at St Thomas' Hospital in London, said: "Our research shows that the new test has the potential to reassure many thousands more patients with a single test, improving their experience and freeing up valuable hospital beds."

He added that if it were to be used routinely within the NHS, it could provide doctors with reliable results within 15 to 30 minutes.

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