A blood test that measures protein is the best way to identify congestive heart failure in people who show up at emergency rooms with shortness of breath, according to Hub researchers.
"It's helped us to the make the diagnosis of heart failure more accurately and sooner," said Dr. James Januzzi Jr. of Massachusetts General Hospital.
About 600 patients who came to the hospital's emergency room with shortness of breath were enrolled in the "real world" study. Their symptoms were evaluated and their blood was drawn.
Later, the doctors were asked to predict whether the patient had heart failure based on all the information except for the blood test, which measures levels of a protein called NT-proBNP.
Researchers found that the blood test was consistently better at identifying heart failure than clinical judgment alone.
While the blood tests have been available, this was the first large-scale study of its kind to look at the test. MGH has been using it for about a year.
"Clinicians have embraced the test and have found it to be very, very useful," Januzzi said.
Until recently, emergency room doctors relied on the patient's history and a physical exam followed by expensive tests taking up to 12 hours to perform in making a diagnosis. Results of the blood test are available in about an hour.
Congestive heart failure is a growing health problem and a major cause of cardiac death. It's a condition in which the heart can't pump enough blood to the body's other organs.
The report will appear in the April 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Source: South Bend Tribune. Powered by Boston Herald.
