06
May
New Test Can Predict And Prevent Heart Attacks And Strokes Long Before They Occur
A major cardiac event,including a heart attack or stroke, can now be predicted with a relatively high success rate with only a simple, noninvasive finger sensor test, researchers at the Mayo Clinic have announced.
The researchers are calling the EndoPAT by Itamar Medical test "highly predictive" for those who are considered a low to moderate risk for a major cardiac event.
"This 15 minute test truly is revolutionary," Larry Kaskel, MD, a doctor of internal medicine who was selected as a Chicago Top Doctor by TopTierMD, said. "We can now look into a how well a patients' arteries are functioning and determine if they have the earliest stages of atherosclerosis called endothelial dysfunction. Then we can institute a therapy and then retest and see if what what we are doing is working. If its not working we then can review what are the potential causes of poor endothelial function. Every man with any erectile dysfunction needs this test. It can pick up early coronary artery disease 15 years before an event occurs. We are the only site in Lake county offering this test that is insurance covered. "
EndoPAT measures the health of endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels and regulate normal blood flow, by measuring blood flow. If endothelial cells are not functioning properly, which is known as endothelial dysfunction, research has shown that it can set the stage for atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries, and lead to major cardiovascular health problems.
During a seven year study of EndoPAT, 49 percent of patients who's tests indicated poor endothelial function experienced a cardiac event. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic and Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston tested 270 patients between the ages of 42 and 66 with the device and studied their progress from August 1999 through August 2007. The patients all carried a low to medium risk for a major heart event as based on the Framingham Risk Score, which is a commonly used risk predictor.
EndoPat was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003 and consists of digital recording equipment and two finger probes that resemble large thimbles. The test itself takes only 15 minutes. During the test, the probes are placed on the patient's index fingers and hooked to a small machine to measure blood flow. A blood pressure cuff is placed on one arm while the uncuffed arm acts as the control.
As the reading for the fingers' blood flow rate begins, the blood pressure cuff on arm is inflated for several minutes and then deflated, which allows for three timed readings. The inflated cuff serves to assess reactive hyperemia, which is the normal blood flow response that occurs when occlusion is released. Forty-nine percent of the patients who went on to have a cardiac event had a low reactive hyperemia score.
Low reactive hyperemia scores are indicative of a lower blood flow response and are consistent with endothelial dysfunction and potentially impaired vascular health. This may lead to or serve as a marker for future cardiac events.
