A simple blood test can identify patients at greatest risk of dying from heart failure, research suggests

A simple blood test could help identify patients most at risk of dying from heart failure, a study suggests.

Those with the highest levels of a specific protein were 50 percent more likely to die from a heart complication over the three-year study period, compared to those with lower levels.

Experts say the findings suggest that measuring levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) could help predict how heart failure is likely to develop.

This could then be used to identify those most at risk and tailor treatments to slow the fatal disease, which occurs when the heart cannot pump blood around the body as well as it should.

It is currently estimated that more than a million people in Britain suffer from heart failure, with around 200,000 new diagnoses each year.

Experts say findings suggest measuring levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) could help predict how heart failure is likely to develop

Researchers from the University of Oxford used survey data from more than 800 adults in various stages of heart failure. The results were published in the European Journal of Heart Failure.

In addition to NPY, the subjects were also measured for the level of natriuretic peptide (BNP), a hormone currently used to diagnose heart failure.

Nerves in the heart release NPY in response to extreme stress, which can cause dangerous heart rhythms.

This can cause the smallest blood vessels in the heart muscle to close, causing the heart to work harder and causing the blood vessels to the heart to constrict.

Scientists found that about a third of the group had high NPY levels and were 50 percent more likely to die from a heart complication during the three-year follow-up period.

They suggest that measuring NPY could be used in addition to BNP to help diagnose people in most immediate danger.

This would allow doctors to decide who might benefit from treatments such as an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) that detects and stops irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias.

Neil Herring, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Oxford, said: ‘The findings of this study are an exciting new development.

We will then investigate whether measuring very high levels of neuropeptide Y could influence whether patients can receive life-saving treatments such as ICDs.’ He added that the blood tests could be introduced within five years.

The British Heart Foundation said: ‘This new research suggests that a new, cheap and simple blood test could help us in the future to more accurately identify which heart failure patients are most at risk of premature death.’