Perkins Institute’s CT screening method to find early heart attack risk to save lives like Newport siblings

Jason Newport has a long history of heart attacks in his family but never knew he was at higher risk until he was rushed to hospital as a fit 36-year-old. Now a new screening method has shown his siblings they are also at higher risk of a heart attack, giving them a chance to change their lifestyle before it’s too late. The CASCADE-MI trial at Perth’s Harry Perkins Institute is investigating whether a CT scan on the heart can better identify those most at risk of a heart attack. When someone experiences a heart attack before the age of 55, their close relatives can be up to two times more likely to have one — often without knowing it. Despite his grandparents and mother having heart issues, Mr Newport thought he was in the clear as a 36-year-old until he started experiencing symptoms after a football game. “As soon as the game finished I felt quite short of breath and had what felt like indigestion,” he said. “I was home on my own and I started to get a bit of jaw pain as well. I just had this morbid thought that I’m going to die here and my daughter is the next one home so I made the split decision to go to hospital. “I was told I was having a heart attack so they decided to fly me to Fiona Stanley Hospital and I came out with a triple bypass surgery.” While current screening methods like the coronary calcium score, which measures plaque build-up in arteries that can lead to heart attacks, are helpful to detect risk they don’t always capture the full picture. This was the case for Jason’s siblings Lisa Falcinella and Simon Newport who had no calcium in their arteries when tested at the doctor but a CT scan through the trial revealed soft plague was beginning to build up. “My calcium score came back at zero so I put the risk of heart attack out of my mind because that result made me think I wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Ms Falcinella said. “But these results in the trial showing a bit of plague mean we’ve got enough time now to be more proactive and continue to get checked way more often.” Perkins Institute associate professor Abdul Ihdayhid said by identifying hidden signs of heart disease in the early stages, the trial could provide peace of mind to those at-risk and ultimately help save lives. “The CT at ChestRad allows us to capture the underlying ingredient for heart attacks, which is plaque,” he said. “If we identify that plaque, we can personalise the treatment and a picture is worth a thousand words — if a patient can see the problem they get motivated to quite smoking, to exercise, to change their diet. “If the results are normal, we can give reassurance but if you’ve got plague then we can tailor the therapy to the degree of risk.” Fiona Stanley Hospital cardiologist Nick Lan said those who were identified to be at higher risk were offered statins — medications used to lower cholesterol levels — as well as suggestions on how to change their diet and fitness. “Having adverse genetics doesn’t mean you’re basically doomed to have a heart attack,” he said. “You can actually make lifestyle changes and so it’s shown that people with high genetic risk, if they make good lifestyle changes they can really reduce their risk of heart disease.” Researchers are still calling on anyone under 55 who has had a heart attack to reach out to CASCADE-MI, with heart checks being offered for siblings or children aged 30 to 55. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to receive either a standard health check including blood and urine tests and questionnaires or a heart health check and a CT scan of the heart.