20-minute test for ‘hidden’ heart risk

A 20-MINUTE test has been found to spot a ‘hidden’ heart condition, say Scottish researchers.

They have called for the procedure to be made available across the NHS after a trial found it can diagnose unexplained chest pain and potentially prevent heart attacks.

The experts from Glasgow University and the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, carried out the trial on 151 patients with chest pain.

They performed a ‘small vessel’ test which involves passing a thin, flexible wire into the heart and measuring how well a blood vessel relaxes. The team found it was able to correctly diagnose angina caused by problems with the small blood vessels supplying the heart, which is difficult to diagnose using standard methods.

The British Heart Foundation said the new tests should become standard.

Chest pain originating from the heart is often a symptom of angina, which is triggered when the heart does not receive enough oxygen-rich blood.

Doctors commonly recommend an angiogram, an invasive procedure which looks for narrowing of the heart’s main arteries. But in around a half of those with angina, this reveals no significant problems.

In many people the pain may be caused by problems in heart blood vessels which are too small to see with traditional tests. The conditions are called microvascular angina and vasospastic angina.

Lead researcher Professor Colin Berry, from Glasgow University, said: ‘As the angiogram in these patients looks “clear” patients may be falsely reassured.

‘However, leaving these heart conditions undiagnosed and untreated presents a risk to patient wellbeing – these problems can lead to hospitalisation for chest pain and a heart attack – and symptoms persist in the longer term. We now hope to see this test rolled out across the country.’

Philippa Hobson, of the British Heart Foundation, which funded the research, said: ‘People living with microvascular angina suffer from crippling and frightening episodes of chest pain.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We welcome this study and will continue working with the British Heart Foundation and other funders to support research into developing new diagnostic approaches and treatments for heart disease.’