Simple blood test to predict sudden cardiac death
A lifespan researcher from the Cardiovascular Institute at Rhode Island in the US, Samuel Dudley has found that a simple blood test can predict a person’s risk for Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD).
Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is not a heart attack (myocardial infarction) that are caused by blockages in one or more of the coronary arteries.
In contrast, sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the electrical system to the heart malfunctions and suddenly becomes very irregular. The heart beats dangerously fast.
During a SCA the emergency treatment includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. CPR keeps enough oxygen in the lungs and gets it to the brain until the normal heart rhythm is restored with an electric shock to the chest (defibrillation). Portable defibrillators used by emergency personnel, or public access defibrillators (AEDs) may help save the person’s life.
The blood test will enable physicians to accurately assess if a patient needs an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD).
The method used now to assess is by measuring the fraction of blood ejected from the heart in any one heartbeat, the ejection fraction. A patient is known to benefit from ICD if the ejection fraction falls below 35%.
The irony is that approximately 60% of patients who receive ICDs as a result of these assessments may not actually need one. The blood test found by Samuel Dudley will help determine more accurately the need for the defibrillator.
SCD is the most common cause of natural death in the US resulting in approximately 3,25,000 adult deaths in the country each year.
In India, about 10% of all cardiac-related deaths are sudden while the mean age of the patients who die is lower than 60 years.
