A heart attack often can lead to serious problems with the nervous system and the hearts electrical system, but new research shows that one test can help predict trouble in both of these areas. The four-year REFINE study (Risk Estimation Following Infarction, Noninvasive Evaluation) tracked 322 heart attack survivors who also had some abnormality with their hearts pumping ability. The research, published in the Dec. 11 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that monitoring both the patients nervous system and his or her hearts electrical system could help cardiologists better identify which patients were at highest risk for cardiac arrest or death, even years after a heart attack.
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