ACC: Finger Sensor Test May Predict Cardiac Events

Peripheral arterial tonometry identifies at-risk subjects with low Framingham Risk scores

MONDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with a low or moderate Framingham Risk Score, a 15-minute non-invasive finger sensor test may identify those who are at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session held March 29 to 31 in Orlando, Fla.

Ronen Rubinshtein, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues used the EndoPAT device to assess endothelial function in 270 patients aged 42 to 66. During a median 5.8-year follow-up, 85 patients (31 percent) experienced a major adverse coronary event.

The researchers found that the rate of major adverse coronary events was significantly higher in patients with a reactive hyperemia index of less than 1.46 than those with a reactive hyperemia index at or above 1.46 (49 percent versus 26 percent). Their multivariate analysis also showed that a reactive hyperemia index of less than 0.4 independently predicted cardiac hospitalizations.

"The results of the study may help identify a discriminating tool beyond the Framingham Risk Score," study co-author Amir Lerman, M.D., said in a statement. "And the results of these individual tests may help physicians change a patient's medications or recommend other therapies, so they don't have a heart attack or stroke later on."

Lerman disclosed service on an advisory board for Itamar Medical, EndoPAT's manufacturer.

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