A simple screening and management programme can be effective in preventing heart failure (HF), according to new Irish research.

Irish researchers have found that screening using a special blood test, followed by targeted care of people at risk can dramatically reduce the incidence of HF and in particular, hospital admissions for this condition and other cardiovascular conditions.

Results of the The Stop-HF study, carried out on more than 1,300 people, were presented at the American College of Cardiology conference in San Francisco.

The study en rolled patients without symptoms over 40 years of age with risk factors for heart failure and divided them into an intervention and control group.

Patients in the intervention group were screened for blood levels of B-type nartriuretic peptide (BNP), a hormone that indicates how well the heart is functioning. These patients received specialised care if it was necessary.

Control group patients received standard care from their doctors.

The researchers found that a significantly lower number of patients in the intervention group than in the control group required hospitalisation for heat failure or left ventricular dysfunction (problems with blood pumping in the heart) and they had lower rates of emergency hospitalisation for major cardiovascular events.

Two in five patients in the intervention group showed elevated BNP levels at some point during the study.

These patients received an echocardiogram and continued care under both their physicians and a specialist cardiology service.

The researchers have pointed out that other studies on heart failure have focused on treatment of patients with established heart failure. They hope that this new study will encourage healthcare providers to look at prevention as well, by implementing what they say is a simple, low cost screening system for at-risk patients.

"Our study shows that simple blood text screening, followed by targeted care of people at heightened risk of heart failure, can result in a dramatic reduction in cardiovascular events," said Prof. Ken McDonald, one of the authors of the study.

"This is good news, since heart failure has become a major public health problem, and middle aged adults today have a 20% to 30% lifetime risk of developing heart failure."

The Irish study was sponsored by St Vincent's Screening to Prevent Heart Failure (STOP-HF).

It is published simultaneously in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).