Fingertip test for heart disease.

A simple blood flow test could help physicians identify patients with heart disease in its early, most treatable stages. Studies show that people who have abnormal blood vessel function in their hearts also have less responsive blood vessels in their fingertips.

The new findings are published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"This test is a noninvasive and easy-to-perform technique to access peripheral endothelial function that has the potential to become a valuable tool for cardiovascular risk stratification in daily clinical practice," said Dr. Amir Lerman at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

The noninvasive test, reactive hyperemia peripheral arterial tonometry (RH-PAT), measures how the volume of a fingertip changes as blood flows through it. After a baseline measurement, a blood pressure cuff is inflated to restrict blood flow in the arm for five minutes. The key measurement indicates how blood vessels in the fingertip respond to the rush of blood after the cuff is released.

The research team, including lead author Piero O. Bonetti, studied 94 patients with chest pain who had been referred for coronary angiography testing. The patients did not have blocked coronary arteries, according to their angiography tests. However, the average blood-flow measured by the fingertip probe was abnormal in 55 of the patients.

"Various interventions, such as treatment of cardiovascular risk factors and certain drugs, including statins, were shown to improve endothelial function in patients with endothelial dysfunction," added Dr. Lerman. "Thus, early detection of endothelial dysfunction may have both prognostic and therapeutic implications."

Physicians may also prescribe aspirin and ACE inhibitors to treat coronary artery disease.