Science
Study hopes to shed new light on heart disease
Researchers we fund at the University of Edinburgh are to use pioneering imaging techniques to investigate scarring in the heart, which could pave the way for major advances to save and improve more lives from heart disease.
Scarring of the heart tissue and muscle occurs in many different conditions including after heart attacks and in heart valve disease. When scar tissue builds up, it prevents the heart from beating efficiently, and is a major cause of heart failure – a debilitating condition for which there is no cure.
Up until now, scanning technology has only been able to detect scarring in patients once it has already formed, reducing treatment options.
Now, scientists have been given a grant of £671,000 from us for a clinical study using state-of-the art scanning and imaging which, for the very first time, hopes to identify scarring in patients in the early stages as it is developing. This could mean patients being treated more effectively and ultimately, potentially before the effects of scarring are irreversible.
Increasing understanding
Researchers say their study may also enable them to detect scarring in other areas of the heart they have previously been unable to see.
Professor Marc Dweck, Chair of Clinical Cardiology at the University of Edinburgh and a consultant cardiologist, is leading the project and explains: “We are really excited to get started on this study. Up to this point, we have only been able to see scar in the heart that has already formed, perhaps many years or decades ago. Our work hopes to shed important light on scarring that is actually occurring now, at the time of the scan. Is the heart scarred or is it scarring? This in turn will help increase our understanding about how scar develops in the heart and how best to treat patients and prevent the development of heart failure. Another benefit of this type of procedure is that it is non-invasive which is obviously good news for patients.”
If the study proves successful, researchers believe such imaging techniques could potentially be used for a whole range of heart diseases.
Professor Dweck continues: “The ability to image scarring in real time, as it is developing in the heart muscle, would be a major scientific advance, which could improve our knowledge about a wide range of heart muscle disorders and speed up the development of new treatments. This could really change how we diagnose and treat patients.”
The study will take place over the next three years and is expected to involve around 200 patients.
Powering science to help save more lives
Our Head of BHF Scotland, James Jopling, said: “This is an example of how cutting-edge research is transforming our understanding of heart disease, including coronary heart disease – the cause of most heart attacks - and one of Scotland’s biggest killers. It is why we are funding vital research up and down the country, made possible only thanks to the generosity of the public. For more than 60 years this support has helped us turn research that once seemed like 'science fiction' into reality and together we are powering science to save and improve more lives.”