Cardiac amyloid imaging using 18F-florbetapir (CARDIFF)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A mechanistic study of florbetapir-fibril binding in cardiac amyloid using 18F-labelled florbetapir for PET-CT imaging
IRAS ID
173826
Contact name
Neil Hubbard
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This is a mechanistic study involving up to 20 patients with cardiac amyloidosis. Amyloidosis is a group of rare diseases caused by deposition of certain abnormal proteins that can cause organ failure. The two commonest types of systemic amyloidosis are transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) and monoclonal immunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis. Both of these types of amyloidosis can affect the heart but it has recently become clear that they do so in different ways and it remains unclear how much or how little abnormal protein is needed for ongoing amyloid deposition.
F-18 florbetapir is a PET tracer which is licensed for use in the imaging of amyloid deposits in the brain and is used in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. A recent study has indicated that florbetapir is useful in investigating cardiac amyloidosis, can detect both ATTR and AL amyloidosis in the heart, and has the potential to image active and inactive disease.
F-18 florbetapir will be used to image cardiac amyloid deposits and investigate the mechanism of cardiac amyloid deposition and regression in AL and ATTR patients. The participants will undergo a single PET-CT scan in the nuclear medicine department of the Royal Free Hospital in addition to their standard care.
A number of patients with systemic amyloidosis (AL and ATTR) are treated with drugs which reduce the level of the fibril precursor protein (AL) or stabilize the amyloidogenic protein (ATTR). Patients with newly diagnosed “active disease” will be imaged as well as those with confirmed cardiac amyloidosis after completion of treatment (“inactive” disease) to further our understanding of the mechanism of amyloid accumulation and regression.
Patients will be recruited at the National Amyloidosis Centre (NAC) where all amyloid patients in the UK are assessed at baseline and then every 6-12 months.REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1518
Date of REC Opinion
8 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion