Finding blood biomarkers that predict the need for aortic valve replacement

A targeted and unbiased search for biomarkers of disease progression and adverse prognosis in asymptomatic moderate-severe aortic stenosis (Dr Daniel Chan)

Aortic stenosis (AS) is a very common heart valve disease which restricts blood flow out of the heart. Many patients experience breathlessness or chest pain with exercise. Currently, the only effective treatment is replacing the valve in patients with symptoms. Yet when symptoms develop, they are at a high risk of sudden death while waiting to have surgery. Replacing the valve early would expose the patient to unnecessary operative risks. We are currently unable to accurately predict each individual patient’s risk. This Clinical Research Training Fellowship aims to identify markers in blood that predict which patients should have their valve replaced earlier. These markers could also identify people who are very unlikely to develop symptoms. These tests will be performed on blood samples from the PRIMID-AS study, which recruited and followed up patients with asymptomatic AS. The most promising proteins will be used to test blood from similar patients in Scotland to check if they are reliable risk predictors.