Offering people suspected of having a certain type of heart attack MRI scans could help thousands of patients avoid an invasive procedure, a study has claimed. University of Oxford researchers explored the approach in patients who had suffered a non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) heart attack . There are about 50,000 hospital admissions a year for this type of heart attack, which happens when the arteries that supply blood to the heart are significantly narrowed but not completely blocked.
These patients are recommended to have a coronary angiogram – a small tube inserted into the artery, allowing doctors to check for narrowing or blockages – within 72 hours of hospital admission. However, the study found about a fifth of patients could avoid the procedure if an MRI is carried out beforehand. Some 100 patients admitted to hospital with a suspected NSTEMI heart attack were recruited for the Oxford Acute Myocardial Infarction (OxAMI) study.
They were given a heart MRI scan before the angiogram, with clinicians making their diagnosis separately and without knowing the results of the other procedure. Of the group, 27 patients did not have any major narrowing of the arteries. The MRI scan showed 18 of these patients had a normal heart, or had other conditions such as inflammation of the heart.
The research team are currently planning a larger trial to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of this approach. They believe the method will bring cost-savin.
