Atrial CMR in patients with CVA of unknown source and no known AF
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Atrial Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients with Embolic Stroke of Unknown Source without Documented Atrial Fibrillation
IRAS ID
269654
Contact name
Steven Williams
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This research will investigate a new method for identifying which patients should be offered blood thinners or therapies to reverse the underlying causes after stroke.
An irregular heart beat (atrial fibrillation; AF) is the primary risk factor for ischaemic stroke, increasing the risk by up to 5-fold. In AF, the upper heart chambers don't pump blood effectively into the lower chambers. When this happens, a blood clot can form, dislodge and leave the heart blocking an artery in the brain and cause a stroke. However, AF is often an intermittent condition and therefore difficult to diagnose. As such, there are a group of patients in whom no cause of their stroke can be identified.
In this study, we will recruit 92 patients from Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, Princess Royal University Hospital and King's College London. As part of routine clinical care, patients undergo insertion of an Implantable Loop Recorder (CE Marked device), a minimally invasive procedure that allows accurate beat-to-beat monitoring to identify patients who develop intermittent AF post-stroke. We will request access to the data collected from this device and perform atrial MRI imaging in these patients to compare the findings between patients that do and do not have AF. If we show that atrial MRI scans are significantly different between patients with and without AF, we will use this information to support a trial of starting appropriate therapies (e.g. blood thinners) in these patients on the basis of MRI findings. This approach would have the advantage of enabling therapies to be offered to the right patients earlier and prevent repeat, potentially disabling stroke.
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1933
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion