New Risk Assessment For Heart Attack Patients

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 04 Apr 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Doctors at the University of Leicester have investigated a simple blood test that can assess the condition of a patient admitted with a heart attack.

The blood test measures B-type natriuretic peptide (a protein secreted from the heart) and gives a better risk assessment than the TIMI score, traditionally used to assess a person's condition and decide on their treatment.

The TIMI score is a clinical scoring method in routine use for risk assessment, involving clinical information such as age, past medical history, examination findings and ECG changes.

Professor Leong Ng, of the Pharmacology and Therapeutics Group in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, commented: "The blood test could potentially replace the TIMI score as a way of stratifying risk in heart attack patients. It's also easier to do and quite reproducible."

The research project, led by Professor Ng, was carried out by Dr Sohail Q Khan, who was employed on a British Heart Foundation fellowship.

Dr Khan and his colleagues compared the TIMI risk score and the blood test (NTproBNP) in the cases of 473 patients in the Coronary Care Unit of the Leicester Royal Infirmary. Using a non-competitive immunoassay, they measured NTproBNP in blood taken within 24 hours of the occurrence of chest pains, and again three or four days later.

Levels of the natriuretic peptide were found to be significantly lower among people who survived the heart attack than among those who died.

Further studies showed that the natriuretic peptide levels predicted mortality independently of other factors, even after adjusting for clinical factors such as left ventricular function and another risk indicator that is released after a heart attack (troponin)

University Of Leicester

A member of the 1994 Group of universities that share a commitment to research excellence, high quality teaching and an outstanding student experience.

- Ranked top for student satisfaction in England (jointly with Oxford) among mainstream universities (average score of 4.4 out of 5 for overall satisfaction)
- Ranked as a Top 20 university by The Sunday Times University Guide, The Guardian University Guide and the UK Good University Guide
- One of just 23 UK universities to feature in world's top 200- Shanghai Jiao Tong International Index, 2005-07.
- Ranked in top 200 world universities by the THES (Times Higher Education Supplement)
- Short listed University of the Year in 2007 by The Sunday Times and Short listed Higher Education Institution of the Year - THES awards 2005 and 2006
- Ranked top 10 in England for research impact by The Guardian
- Students' Union of the Year award 2005, short listed 2006 and 2007

Founded in 1921, the University of Leicester has 19,000 students from 136 countries. Teaching in 18 subject areas has been graded Excellent by the Quality Assurance Agency- including 14 successive scores - a consistent run of success matched by just one other UK University. Leicester is world renowned for the invention of DNA Fingerprinting by Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys and houses Europe's biggest academic Space Research Centre. 90% of staff are actively engaged in high quality research and 13 subject areas have been awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level. The University's research grant income places it among the top 20 UK research universities. The University employs over 3,000 people, has an annual turnover of £184m, covers an estate of 94 hectares and is engaged in a £300m investment programme- among the biggest of any UK university.

University of Leicester