New scan shows bleeding after heart attack

London, United Kingdom, January 20: For the first time, the U.K. researchers have succeeded in capturing images of bleeding inside the heart after people suffered a cardiacdefine arrestdefine.

According to the scientists, from the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre at Imperial College London, the amount of bleeding can indicate how damaged a person's heart is after an attack. It can help them monitor the patient’s condition as well as determine the course of treatment needed.

With the help of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine (MRIdefine), the researchers produced an image of a heart from within it after a heart attack, hoping that the scan with other necessary tests would give a clearer perception of the patient’s condition and the chances of recovery.

Dr Declan O’Regan, the author of the study said, “Our study gives us a new insight into the damage that heart attacks can cause. Using this new scanning technique shows us that patients who develop bleeding inside their damaged heart muscle have a much poorer chance of recovery. We hope that this will help us to identify which patients are at most risk of complications following their heart attack.”

A person has a heart attack when the arteries that feed blood to the heart become blocked. This is an outcome of stopped supply of oxygen unable to reach the heart muscle. The usual mode of operation is to use a stent to keep the blocked arteries clear.

As a part of the study, O'Regan and his colleagues captured images from within the heart of 15 patients who had recently suffered heart attacks. Analyzing the MRI scans the researchers discovered that there was a co-relation between the damage to the heart muscle and the amount of bleeding. Patients, who suffered a major attack, had relatively more bleeding, because of damage incurred to the heart muscle as compared to those that had a minor attack.

The researchers believe the image of internal bleeding gives the doctors a better insight into tissue damage, leading to subsequent means of treatment. Patients who develop bleeding inside the damaged heart muscle have a much poorer chance of recovery. The researchers were able to detect the area of bleeding because of the magnetic effects of iron, which is present in the blood.

Dr Stuart Cook, senior author of the study at Imperial College London stated, "We still have a lot of unanswered questions about whether the bleeding itself may cause further damage to the heart muscle and this is an area that needs further research. The more we understand about what happens during and after a heart attack, the greater the chances are of scientists finding new ways to combat the damage that heart attacks cause."

Heart disease is the biggest killer in the United Kingdom. Nearly one person suffers a heart attack every six minutes.

The research was funded by the Medical Research Council, the British Heart Foundation and the Department of Health. The research will be published in the journal Radiology.