The scan that can spot heart attacks

Tracer injection can light up clogged arteries

A SIMPLE scan could be used to identify patients who are on the brink of having a heart attack, claim scientists.

They have discovered an imaging technique that can be used to light up dangerous blockages in the heart.

About 5,000 Irish people a year die from heart attacks, many of which are triggered by such blockages – a ‘ ticking time bomb’ that there is currently no way of diagnosing easily.

But findings from a trial show that a new test may be able to identify these patients, many of whom suffer from angina, so they could be treated.

Scientists at Edinburgh University used a PET-CT scanner – normally used to diagnose cancer – to track a chemical compound known as a radioactive tracer that is injected into the patient’s body.

The tracer, called F- sodium fluoride (F-NaF), was found to accurately identify high-risk areas in the heart by emitting a glow that could be clearly seen on the scan.

The areas most at risk are fatty deposits, known as plaque, in the arteries, which if they rupture will cause a clot that blocks the blood supply to the heart.

The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Chief Scientist Office, part of the Scottish Government, looked at two groups of patients – 40 people who had just had a heart attack and 40 people with angina and at risk of a heart attack.

The scan showed more than 90 per cent of heart attack patients had a lit-up area at the location of the blockage that caused their heart attack. Almost half of patients with angina – serious chest pain – also had plaque that lit up, suggesting a heart attack was imminent. BHF clinical lecturer and cardiologist Dr Marc Dweck, who led the research that was published in The Lancet medical journal, said: ‘We have developed what we hope is a way to “light up” plaques on the brink of rupturing and causing a heart attack.

‘If we could know how close a person is to having a heart attack, we could step in with medication or surgery before the damage is done. This is a first

‘90% of blockages showed on scan’

step towards that goal.’

Researcher Dr Nikhil Joshi added: ‘Until now, there have been no non-invasive imaging techniques available which can identify high-risk and ruptured coronary plaques.

‘For the first time, we have shown that this is possible, and it has the potential to transform how we identify, manage and treat patients.’

PET-CT scanners are available in many teaching hospitals to assist i n cancer diagnosis, but are not normally used for heart patients. It combines two types of scanning techniques, and can identify the inflammation in an imminent rupture of a blood vessel because the body attempts to heal it beforehand, sometimes successfully.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the BHF, said: ‘Being able to identify dangerous fatty plaques likely to cause a heart attack is something that conventional heart tests can’t do. This research suggests that PET-CT scanning may provide an answer, identifying “ticking time bomb” patients at risk of a heart attack.

‘Nearly 20 years of BHF-funded research has led us to this point. We now need to confirm these findings, and then understand how best to use new tests like this in the clinic to benefit heart patients.’