Early signs of heart attacks being missed by doctors

DOCTORS could be missing warning signs of heart attacks in up to one in six fatal cases, research suggests.

Classic symptoms of a heart attack include sudden chest pain or a “crushing” sensation that may spread down either arm.

But researchers said doctors could be missing “subtle signs” of illness – such as fainting and shortness of breath – which could indicate an increased risk of suffering a heart attack.

The study by Imperial College London examined the records of almost 450,000 NHS hospital stays involving heart attacks between 2006 and 2010, as well as the history of all 135,950 heart attack deaths in England over the same four years. Of the fatal heart attack victims, one in six had been admitted to hospital up to four weeks before their death, the study, published in The Lancet Public Health, found. Yet no mention of heart attack symptoms was made in their hospital records.

Symptoms such as fainting, shortness of breath and chest pain would have been evident in some of these patients, said the researchers.

Lead scientist Dr Perviz Asaria, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College, said: “Doctors are very good at treating heart attacks when they are the main cause of admission, but we don’t do very well treating secondary heart attacks or at picking up subtle signs which might point to a heart attack death in the near future.”

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This failure to detect warning signs is concerning and these results should prompt doctors to be more vigilant.”