Developing a new method to identify people at increased risk of a heart attack

Detection of High-Risk Plaque with tropoelastin-specific and multi-contrast coronary MRI (renewal)

Atherosclerosis – the build-up of fatty plaques inside artery walls - is associated with an increased risk of a heart attacks or strokes. If these plaques rupture, they can cause a blood clot to form and block the blood supply to parts of the heart or brain. Predicting the likelihood of whether plaques will rupture could reduce the number of debilitating heart attacks and strokes. Currently, doctors assess a person’s risk of a heart attack or stroke by imaging the blood vessels with a CT scan or angiogram. Professor Rene Botnar and his team at King’s College London will develop and test whether a new contrast agent used during a type of heart scan, called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), is better at predicting plaque rupture. This new contrast agent will bind to detect a molecule called tropoelastin that is linked to high-risk plaques, highlighting possible at-risk areas in the MRI scans. Initially, they will test whether MRI measurements of tropoelastin can identify which plaques are at risk of rupture in mice and pigs known to have stable or unstable plaques. If the new scanning method proves successful, the team plan to test it in a further 150 people with stable or unstable plaques. Their goal is to develop a scanning method that detects unstable, high-risk plaques more effectively and quickly than current imaging technology. This would provide better information for doctors about how to treat patients and minimise their risk of a heart attack.