Using high tech imaging to understand the lifelong cardiac effects of being born with a heart defect

Diffusion tensor cardiovascular magnetic resonance assessment of cardiac microstructure in adult congenital heart disease (Dr Miriam Conway)

Every day in the UK, 12 babies are diagnosed with heart defects, known collectively as congenital heart disease. Thanks to research across recent decades, around eight in 10 people born with a heart defect now survive to adulthood. However, there can be long term effects of being born with an abnormality in the heart, including that many patients are at higher risk of premature heart failure. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan and her team want to understand that risk better, so doctors can give personalised advice and treatment to every adult with congenital heart disease. This study will use a high-tech heart scanning technology to study the microarchitecture of heart muscle in these people. This technique is non-invasive and gives incredibly detailed information about the structure of heart muscle cells and their coordinated movement as the heart squeezes and relaxes. The team will combine this information with traditional tests for heart failure risk, including blood tests and cardiac ultrasound, to understand more about the heart. The team hopes that this could help us to identify which adults with congenital heart disease are most likely to develop heart failure. By finding these people before it’s too late, we can do more to limit their risks, so they can grow old with a healthy heart.