A team of scientists developed a new non-invasive MRI-based early warning system that may alert physicians about approaching heart attacks in patients and identify those at high risk.
Headed by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Australia, the research was published online today in the European Heart Journal.
"Aside from leading a healthy lifestyle, this 'early warning system' could be our best defense against heart attacks, many of which may be fatal," lead author Roland Stocker, PhD, a professor at the Victor Chang Institute, told the Australian Financial Review. "Identifying in whom and when heart attacks will occur remains a holy grail of clinical cardiology and personalized medicine."
The warning system is comprised of two stages, which researchers used in a mouse model and discovered that the activity of the inflammatory enzyme myeloperoxidase is higher in unstable plaques than stable ones. A clinical trial involving humans will be conducted soon, according to the researchers.
The first stage detected plaques that were likely to rupture and form a blood clot by injecting a chemical probe into the bloodstream. Stocker and colleagues then successfully used MRI to identify the presence of the dangerous plaques in coronary arteries that had high levels of myeloperoxidase activity.
The second stage aimed at stabilizing the plaque and prevent it from rupturing. The researchers achieved this by administering a drug to inhibit myeloperoxidase activity, which ultimately stabilized the plaque and decreased bleeding and clotting in the artery wall.
"The MRI imaging technique has the potential to be the first non-invasive method to provide information on coronary plaque activity, enabling researchers to potentially diagnose those at risk of a heart attack," Bob Graham, executive director of the Victor Chang Institute, told the Australian Financial Review.
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.