Amyloid buildup in the brain is commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease, but the protein can also accumulate in the heart, researchers say.

Amyloidosis is a rare disease that causes a buildup of amyloid protein in the body’s organs. When deposits occur in the heart, it can cause such cardiac problems as heart attack, high blood pressure, heartbeat irregularities, an enlarged heart, and heart failure.

A French research team is evaluating a molecular imaging scan that they believe can detect  abnormal buildups to prevent heart attacks and save lives, they said. The scanning test is widely available and currently used for bone imaging.

They gave 55 patients out of 121 patients who had been diagnosed with a certain type of genetically linked amyloidosis both whole-body scans along with the special cardiac molecular imaging test and found that 47 tested positive for the condition.

Although there were previous indications the scanning test might be useful for detecting cardiac amyloidosis, this was the first time it had been used for that purpose.

They are hoping it will become the standard of care used in diagnosing the condition.