A new discovery about a “simple” MRI scan could save “vast numbers of lives”, according to a vascular medicine professor.
Researchers have made a “very exciting and significant development” to help identify people at risk of heart disease – 10 years before a potential heart attack or stroke.
Vascular medicine professor Jill Belch, who led a study at the University of Dundee, has discovered a “simple” MRI scan can help doctors to make such a discovery.
The researchers found that the “mass of the left ventricle” of the heart was a “clear indicator of future risk of cardiovascular disease”.
Jill said: “We looked at thousands of health records and it became apparent that the mass of the left ventricle was a clear indicator of future risk of cardiovascular disease.
“We have clearly identified a very early marker of future cardiovascular disease which can be detected via a simple MRI scan.
“This is a widely available, easy-to-perform procedure that our study has proven to be able to identify people at risk of cardiovascular disease who may have no other identifiable risk factors, ten years before the event.”
Jill admitted this could potentially save “vast numbers of lives”.
She added: “The ability to provide pre-emptive treatment for patients at a stage where their heart is working perfectly well could save vast numbers of lives which are cruelly taken from us as a consequence of cardiovascular disease.”
New MRI scan discovery could save ‘vast numbers of lives’
