Scientists from the research center Médica Aplicada (CIMA) and the Clínica Universidad de Navarrain Pamplona, and from research center Biodonostia (CIB) and Hospital Universitario Donostia (HUD), in San Sebastian, have discovered a diagnostic method to evaluate myocardial fibrosis (accumulation of tissue) caused by arterial hypertension. This technique, based on blood biomarkers, will make it possible to better diagnose heart failure and personalize treatments for each patient.

The results of the study have been published in the scientific journal "Journal of the American College of Cardiology" (JACC), whose publisher is the Spanish cardiologist Valentín Fuster. His publishing house recognizes the scientific trajectory of group researcher and evaluates the importance of this new method.

Until now, fibrosis was diagnosed exclusively by heart biopsy, a risky method that requires a puncture. The new method uses a non-invasive Biochemistry technique that measures in blood the characteristics of the collagen fibers that accumulate and cause myocardial fibrosis. "In addition to being a less invasive test , this study demonstrates that both the quantity and quality of myocardial fibrosis influence the evolution and prognosis of patients with heart failure of hypertensive cause," explains Dr. Javier Díez, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Program at CIMA, and co-director of work along with Dr. Ramón Querejeta, of the CIB and HUD.

Funded by the high school de Salud Carlos III and the European Commission, this work of partnership translational between basic and clinical research has studied 241 patients with heart failure caused by arterial hypertension for nine years and a average of 68.5 years at the start of the study.

According to the directors of work, "the new biomarkers make it possible to inexpensively and easily characterize myocardial fibrosis and classify patients according to their future risk and prospects for hospitalization, which will help physicians to personalize and individualize patient treatment."

Effects of arterial hypertension

In Spain there are more than six million people with hypertension. When hypertension damages the heart muscle, it not only enlarges it, but also modifies its structure and remodels it to the point of altering its normal functioning, leading to heart failure.

"Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization in Spain and is very relevant from a health and economic point of view, but fundamentally for the quality of life of patients. Conventional treatment is administered generically to all patients diagnosed with this disease. With the data of this biomarker it will be possible to add complementary therapies that improve the patient's prognosis", explain Dr. Díez and Dr. Querejeta.