Clinical Research Directory

Cardiomyopathies and Heart Muscle Diseases: Cardiac Imaging in the Evaluation of Myocardial Fibrosis Transition

Heart scarring, also known as fibrosis, plays a major role in a lot of heart muscle abnormalities. These abnormalities of the heart muscle can lead to major issues such as symptoms of heart failure, dangerous heart rhythm disturbances and even death. However, a lot of these conditions are still not fully understood and treatment options are limited. We here aim to use a new radioactive dye called 68Ga-FAPI to identify patterns and the activity of heart muscle scarring. This radioactive dye is being used in humans particularly in identifying and monitoring cancers and has shown promise in identifying scarring in the heart as well. This will help us not only understand the underlying disease process and risk stratify these patients but also potentially help us develop new targeted therapies that can affect heart muscle scarring. Participants will undergo a baseline MRI scan using this new dye and a plain MRI scan will repeated 12-18 months after to see if there are any changes in the process.

EACVI Study on Multimodality Cardiovascular Imaging of Inflammatory Cardiovascular Diseases

Inflammatory Cardiovascular Diseases and Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases (ICARDs) encompass cardiovascular involvement in connective tissue diseases, vasculitis, and primary inflammatory cardiac processes affecting all layers of the heart. ICARDs are associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, independently of traditional risk factors, via multiple pathophysiological mechanisms. Diagnosis and prognosis are challenged by the heterogeneity of clinical presentations. Multimodality cardiovascular imaging - including cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), transthoracic echocardiography, and positron emission tomography (PET) - plays a central role in detecting and characterizing inflammatory involvement, and may offer prognostic insights. Given the limited data on the diagnostic and prognostic utility of these imaging modalities in ICARDs, the EACVI-INFLAME study aims to assess the prevalence of confirmed cardiovascular involvement in patients with suspected or established ICARDs undergoing CMR and/or cardiac PET in a multicentric international cohort.

Characterisation of the Biochemical Profile and Physiology of the Coronary Circulation in Takotsubo Syndrome

Consecutive consenting patients over the age of 18 years diagnosed with Takotsubo syndrome according to the position statement of the European Journal of Heart Failure (2016) will be included in the study. The primary endpoint is to evaluate the incidence of coronary microcirculation dysfunction and its correlation with the clinical presentation and the prognosis in patients with TAKO-Tsubo syndrome. Secondary endpoints will be to assess the incidence of in-hospital mortality, the prevalence of cardiogenic shock, the correlation between the levels of biomarkers analyzed, microvascular dysfunction, perceived quality of life, and angina severity during hospitalization and at subsequent follow-ups, and the influence of knowledge of the level of microvascular dysfunction on clinical management and prescribed therapies. Enrolment: 2 years, follow-up: 1 month and 1 year. Total: 3 years.