A blood test allows CHUM medical teams to identify whether a patient is at risk of having heart problems during or after surgery.
“A tube that is sent to the laboratory. About one or two hours later, we will have the result, ”explains Dr. Emmanuelle Duceppe, specialist in internal medicine.
This new way of doing things was previously used only by emergency physicians and cardiologists to predict heart problems. Specialists in internal medicine at the CHUM hope to reduce delays.
Dr. Duceppe participated in an international study with McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. More than 10,000 patients aged 45 and over in 9 countries had a blood test before their intervention. The results demonstrate that the test is reliable.
If the indices sought during the blood test are high, doctors will ask themselves several questions.
“What causes the high level? It could be because the pressure is too high. It can be because there are heart rhythm problems, or sometimes it can be because the patient has blockages in his arteries of the heart, “says the specialist in internal medicine.
At this time, there will be further examinations.
Each transaction involves risks. So that’s what doctors are trying to predict.
“It is 1 in 60 patients who undergoes major surgery who will die within 30 days of complications from their surgery. And heart complications are one of the main causes, ”says Dr. Duceppe.
Annually, at the CHUM, 10,000 patients should benefit from this new measure, which is used in only a few hospitals in Quebec.
The direct debit costs only ten dollars.
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