A new imaging tool to detect and monitor amyloid in the heart

The quantification of cardiac TTR  amyloid: a diagnostic tool for better patient care

In this fellowship, Professor James Moon and colleagues are developing a new imaging tool to detect amyloid protein in the heart. This may allow clinical trials of new drugs to treat the condition. Amyloidosis is a serious disease caused by the build-up of solidified protein called amyloid in organs. In the heart, there are no treatments to remove it, no tests that can measure it, and it often causes death. Fortunately, new treatments in animals promise a complete cure, but these are hard to trial in man as there are no tests that can measure the amount of amyloid in the heart to monitor the effects of treatments. Professor Moon and colleagues are developing a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging tool that aims to detect a specific type of amyloid (TTR amyloid) in the heart. He will test the ability of the imaging technique to distinguish the type of amyloid, monitor the disease and allow any effect of new treatments to be discovered – offering the hope of new treatments for TTR amyloid being brought into use far earlier for people with the condition.