18F-Fluoride Assessment of Aortic Bioprostheses Durability and Outcome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
18F-Fluoride Assessment of Aortic Bioprostheses Durability and Outcomes
IRAS ID
147780
Contact name
Marc Dweck
Contact email
Research summary
Aortic stenosis refers to a narrowing of the main heart valve through which blood travels as it is pumped to the rest of the body. This is the commonest form of heart valve disease in the Western World and the major reason for which valve operations are performed. Bioprosthetic heart valves are replacement valves made partly from animal tissue. These are known to fail over time because of increasing stiffness and chalkiness of the valve in a process called calcification. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)is a "key-hole" operation which has recently emerged as a alternative to traditional heart valve replacement surgery. Whilst this technique holds great promise, we do not yet know how long these valves will last in comparison to traditional surgical valve replacements.
In this study, we aim to use a special imaging technique called 18F-sodium fluoride PET/CT scanning to detect the earliest signs of chalk build-up and stiffening of both "key-hole" and conventional surgical valve replacements. We hope that the information from this scan will predict how long the different types of tissue valve are likely to last and potentially identify patients at risk of early valve failure. If successful, 18F-sodium fluoride PET/CT could also provide a useful way of assessing new treatments to improve the durability of replacement valves and help to guide future valve design.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
14/SS/1049
Date of REC Opinion
24 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion