Using MRI scans to guide the best treatment in people with heart failure.

Improved prediction of functional recovery after revascularization using combined assessment of myocardial ischaemia and viability by CMR – Pilot study

Over half a million people in the UK have been diagnosed with heart failure. This is when the heart is weakened and unable to pump the blood around the body properly. It can cause debilitating symptoms like breathlessness, and occurs when the heart muscle has been damaged. The condition is often caused by coronary heart disease, when the supply of blood to the heart is reduced or blocked by fatty deposits – called plaques - in the arteries. Sometimes heart failure can be eased by a heart bypass operation where a piece of blood vessel is grafted to bypass the blockage and restore good blood supply. But sometimes, people that have this major operation don’t see their condition improve. Dr Amedeo Chiribiri and his team will recruit people who are due for bypass surgery to have an MRI scan of their heart before and after their operation. They will then try to identify signs in the first scan that could predict which patients will benefit most from the surgery. This study could help guide the best treatment decisions in people with coronary heart disease and heart failure. It could give patients more confidence in the run-up to their bypass surgery, and avoid a major operation for those who are unlikely to benefit.