New blood test could predict sudden cardiac death risk

Samuel C Dudley, MD, PhD, chief of cardiology at the CVI, said that the primary prevention model for at-risk patients in the US is to implant an ICD before a cardiac event happens. While it's better to be safe, this has led to widespread overuse of ICDs throughout the US and abroad.

A researcher has found that a simple blood test can predict a person's risk for sudden cardiac death.

Samuel C Dudley, MD, PhD, chief of cardiology at the CVI, said that the primary prevention model for at-risk patients in the US is to implant an ICD before a cardiac event happens. While it's better to be safe, this has led to widespread overuse of ICDs throughout the US and abroad.

Dudley asserted that with this blood test, they can refine the need for such a device, and instead implant the cardiac defibrillators only in the most severe cases of sudden cardiac death risk.

The new blood test is in a pilot phase and will be validated in a large, multi-site trial led by Dudley and other researchers at Lifespan's CVI anticipated to start this fall.

The study has been published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.