18F Sodium Fluoride PET CT in patients with Acute Aortic Syndrome

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    18F Sodium Fluoride PET CT in patients with Acute Aortic Syndrome

  • IRAS ID

    239677

  • Contact name

    David Newby

  • Contact email

    d.e.newby@ed.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Edinburgh

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    AC18044, ACCORD Sponsor Number

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    3 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Acute aortic syndrome is a devastating clinical condition involving a tear in the largest blood vessel of the body - the aorta. Patients may require urgent surgery if the blood supply to limbs or organs is affected. Otherwise, usual treatment is with blood pressure lowering medication. However, despite these efforts, the weakened aorta is prone to expansion and the catastrophic consequence of rupture.

    To date, there remains no way of predicting aortic expansion in acute aortic syndrome. Applying new technologies to imaging the aorta allows us to study specific disease processes. A biological tracer called 18F-Sodium Fluoride (18F-NaF) can be used with positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to visualise areas of tissue disease within the aorta. This tracer is safe and has been used in numerous human studies.

    As part of our research, we will include PET imaging to the established surveillance pathway of patients with acute aortic syndrome (during their routine 30-day and 12-month CT scan). We will take this opportunity to perform a clinical assessment and blood tests on volunteers.

    Finally, we will report:
    (i) the distribution of 18F-NaF binding to the aorta;
    (ii) associations between 18F-NaF and changes in the shape of the aorta;
    (iii) associations between 18F-NaF and acute aortic syndrome-related complications.

  • REC name

    East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2

  • REC reference

    18/ES/0070

  • Date of REC Opinion

    9 Jul 2018

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion