Good news for heart patients and anyone who dreads invasive tests: researchers in the UK have made a breakthrough that could change how doctors assess heart failure. A team from the University of East Anglia (UEA), working with colleagues at the universities of Leeds and Newcastle, has developed a new way to use an everyday MRI scan to measure a patient’s heart health – without inserting tubes into the body.
Traditionally, doctors use a procedure called right heart catheterisation to find out how much oxygen is in the blood returning to the heart. It’s a useful measurement, but it involves guiding a tube into the heart – not something most people look forward to. The new method uses standard MRI technology and a clever trick called T2 mapping to estimate oxygen levels in the blood. This gives doctors the same vital information, but in a way that’s far less risky and much gentler on patients.
“We wanted to develop a safe, non-invasive alternative which could allow far more patients to be properly assessed – and allow repeat monitoring without the risks of a catheter test.,” says lead researcher Prof Pankaj Garg of UEA’s Norwich Medical School. The team’s results show that the MRI estimates match up very closely with the traditional invasive measurements doctors rely on.
In real terms, that could mean thousands of people with heart failure — especially those who are older, frail or less able to cope with invasive tests – could avoid uncomfortable procedures in future. Better still, the new approach doesn’t require extra equipment or dye and adds only a few seconds to a routine cardiac MRI scan.
While more studies are needed, this breakthrough could soon make heart checks safer, simpler and more comfortable across the NHS – and put a smile on many faces in the process.
