New Blood Test Could Predict Risk of Sudden Cardiac Death

New research reports from the Cardiovascular Institute (CVI) in Louisiana, United States reveals that a simple blood test could predict a person’s risk for sudden cardiac death. The study has been published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Samuel C Dudley, chief of cardiology at the institute, said that the new test would enable physicians to assess a patient’s need for an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD). This has led to widespread overuse of ICDs throughout US and abroad, he said.

Dudley said that the primary prevention model for at-risk patients in the U.S. is to implant an ICD before a cardiac event happens. He asserted that with this blood test, they can refine the need for such a device, and instead implant the cardiac defibrillators only in the most severe cases of sudden cardiac death risk.

The new blood test is in a pilot phase and would be validated in a large, multi-site trial led by Dudley and other researchers at Lifespan’s CVI.

Infoeditor