Earlier, Improved MRI Detects ‘Broken-heart’ Syndrome
A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that early magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the heart can greatly increase the rate of diagnosis of broken-heart syndrome, which can happen when there is no obvious cause in the coronary artery.
Myocardial infarction is typically caused by a blockage of the coronary artery by a blood clot. However, in up to 10% of all myocardial infarctions, no obvious cause in the coronary artery is found, and so the working diagnosis MINOCA (myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries) is given, which can subsequently lead to one of several diagnoses.
Most of these patients are women, many of whom are diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy (broken-heart syndrome), characterised by reduced heart function that is likely stress-related, presenting the same symptoms as a standard heart attack.
“Around 80 to 90% of broken-heart sufferers are women, and the disease is associated with mental stress,” said principal investigator Per Tornvall, senior physician and professor at the Department of Clinical Science and Education, Stockholm South General Hospital, Karolinska Institutet. “There also seems to be a link to hypersensitivity towards stress caused by low estrogen levels. Unfortunately, research on the investigation and treatment of myocardial infarction is often done on men, while female heart disease is less studied.”
In a prior study with 150 patients, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is often done when examining patients with MINOCA. CMR conducted approximately 10 days after onset can result in a diagnosis in under half the patients, normally takotsubo or myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle), Now, the same researchers have tested a new, more sensitive CMR technique two to four days after onset on a comparable group of 148 patients. They found that 77% of the patients could be diagnosed: 35% of takotsubo and 17% of myocardial inflammation, compared with 19 and 7%, respectively, in the first study.
“We don’t know how much effect the improved CMR technique has, but the results suggest that with early examination more patients can get a correct diagnosis and therefore the right treatment,” says Professor Tornvall. “The next step is for us to develop the CMR examination with pharmacological stress of the heart. This will enable us to study the smallest of the blood vessels and hopefully find a cause for the 23% who received no diagnosis.”
Source: Medical Xpress
Journal information: Peder Sörensson et al. Early Comprehensive Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With Myocardial Infarction With Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries, JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2021.02.021