Simple £5 blood test could help prevent thousands of heart attacks, study says

Crucially, modelling suggested troponin tests were especially effective at spotting danger in people currently assessed and found to be at “intermediate risk” of cardiovascular issues.

This intermediate risk group can pose problems for doctors, the BHF said, because they are not deemed low-risk, but their risk is not high enough to justify preventive treatment.

The study found adding troponin tests meant that up to 8% of people classified as intermediate risk were changed to high-risk. Offering preventive treatments, such as statins, to reclassified patients could prevent thousands of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks or strokes.

Prof Bryan Williams, the chief scientific and medical officer at the BHF, said: “Developments in risk prediction have helped doctors to build effective algorithms that can spot those most at risk of heart attacks and strokes. But, with around 100,000 hospital admissions for heart attacks alone in the UK each year, it’s clear that there is still plenty of room for improvement.

“This new data suggests adding this blood test to current risk-prediction models could help medical professionals identify more people who are at higher risk and deliver advice and treatment to reduce their risk of future heart attack and strokes.”