Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology may be more useful in detecting heart attack in emergency room patients than traditional methods. An MRI assessment may, therefore, be able to reduce or prevent damage to the heart among these patients suffering from heart attack or severe blockages in their coronary arteries.

Researchers evaluated the ability of high-resolution MRI to detect heart attack or unstable angina in emergency room patients with chest pain as compared with three standard diagnostic tests including an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a blood enzyme test, and the TIMI risk score, which assesses the risk of complications or death in patients with chest pain.

The MRI detected all of the patients' heart attacks, including three that had not been detected by EKGs, and detected more patients with unstable angina than the other tests.

Currently, only about 40 percent of patients who go to the emergency room because of chest pain can be immediately diagnosed with heart attack through standard tests. Most of the time, other tests and further hospitalization are necessary before a diagnosis can be reached. Further, about two percent of patients with a heart attack, and many others with unstable angina, are sent home without diagnosis.

MRI is a type of body scan that allows physicians to look at how well the heart is pumping, how good the supply of blood to the heart is in specific areas, and whether there is evidence of permanent damage to the heart in three dimensions.

Using MRI in the emergency department to detect patients' heart problems could save lives because diagnosis can be reached more quickly, leading to more rapid treatment.

Researchers estimate that MRI could be used in the emergency department of hospitals nationwide within a few years, as many U.S. hospitals currently have equipment that could be upgraded for this use.

Science Daily January 30, 2003