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Heart Disease Blood Test May Predict Risk

Posted on: Friday, 12 January 2007, 09:00 CST

A blood test for patients with coronary heart disease could help predict their risk for subsequent cardiovascular events or death, found a U.S. study.

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California-San Francisco and colleagues assessed the association of a type of peptide in the blood that is a cardiac biomarker with subsequent cardiovascular events -- heart attack, stroke or heart failure -- and death in a group of 987 patients with coronary heart disease.

The participants were followed up for an average of 3.7 years, during which 256 patients had a cardiovascular event or died.

The researchers found that each increasing quartile of the biomarker was associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular events or death, with individuals in the highest quartile -- 19.6 percent event rate -- having a nearly eight-fold increased rate of cardiovascular events or death compared with those in the lowest quartile -- 2.6 percent event rate.

These findings suggest that a simple blood test for NT-proBNP level may aid in the risk stratification of high-risk patients, such as those with coronary heart disease, and may guide further testing and treatment strategies aimed at reducing future cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, the researchers conclude in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Source: United Press International

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