Can MRI scanning during exercise predict heart failure in people with pulmonary arterial hypertension?

Does exercise-MRI predict response to therapy in pulmonary hypertension?

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is caused by abnormally high blood pressure in the arteries carrying blood to the lungs, which results in damage to the right side of the heart. Symptoms include breathlessness or tiredness, and can lead to death from heart failure within a few years. We don't currently understand why some patients get worse and do not respond to treatment. Dr Declan O’Regan and colleagues have been awarded a grant to scan the hearts of patients with PAH using MRI while they are exercising, to see if the scan can predict which patients are likely to respond to drugs or have a worse outcome. They will use the MRI scanner to find out how the hearts of people with PAH differ from healthy people when they are exercising. They will test if the changes in the heart seen on MRI during exercise can be used to predict which patients will respond better to drug treatments, and assess whether drugs are working.