TL;DR
A new blood test using five biomarkers and biological sex can distinguish broken-heart syndrome from heart attacks with nearly 90 percent accuracy, potentially sparing many patients from invasive catheterization.
Broken-heart syndrome sounds like a romance novel, but it's real: after a severe emotional blow, the heart's left ventricle suddenly weakens, with symptoms identical to a heart attack but no blocked arteries.
To tell the two apart, doctors used to thread a tube through the blood vessels to the heart — a catheterization that is painful and risky.
A blood test instead?
A team led by the University of Zurich analyzed blood samples from over 3,600 patients, used AI to pick out five biomarkers, and factored in biological sex (about 80 percent of cases are women) to create a score called BioTAK.
In independent validation, BioTAK correctly identified nearly 90 percent of broken-heart syndrome cases. That means a blood draw can give a good heads-up without an invasive procedure first.
Not a complete replacement
The researchers concede BioTAK won't fully replace catheterization, but it can help doctors screen out some patients and spare them unnecessary invasive tests.
In short: a little less grief for the broken-hearted.
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