A study by two Indiana University School of Medicine doctors has unveiled a new purpose for a widely used blood test for heart attack patients.

It is big news for the estimated one in 10 Hoosiers whose doctors have informed them they have coronary heart disease, placing them at risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Dr. Rohan Dharmakumar, vice chair of research in the Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at IU, said testing a person’s troponin level can assist doctors in quickly identifying whether they are prone to serious cardiac complications. Troponin is a protein found in the heart muscle.

“Troponin is actually commonly used to identify a heart attack but this is right before you intervene in the patient and put in a stent to overcome the actual heart attack that is taking place,” Dharmakumar explained.

He pointed out all heart attacks are not the same and the risk factors differ as well. Doctors must also consider critical factors, like the amount of damage and the type of injury to the heart, which vary from person to person.

Dharmakumar noted about 40% of heart patients suffer from what’s known as an “ST-elevation myocardial infarction,” a severe heart attack linked to blockage of a major artery, preventing blood flow to the heart muscle. Magnetic resonance imaging is the traditional method used for a post-heart attack exam but Dharmakumar stressed the procedure is costly and the results are not immediate, which can delay treatment.

“One, it’s not widely available. Two, it requires you to wait for about two to three days after a heart attack to actually get an image,” Dharmakumar outlined. “We’re in a conundrum, because we want to be able to identify these patients very quickly after the coronary arteries are open. So, this blood test actually provides that answer.”

He added a troponin test can produce results for high-risk patients within a couple of hours of opening up an artery. The study was co-authored by IU School of Medicine’s director of clinical imaging research, Dr. Vera Keyur.