Cardiac ASL in Chronic Disease

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Evaluation of Cardiac Perfusion, Structure and Function in Chronic Liver and Kidney Disease

• IRAS ID

  137031

• Contact name

  Chris Mcintyre

• Contact email

  chris.mcintyre@nottingham.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Nottingham

• Research summary

  Patients with advanced chronic liver disease have high mortality rates. This is often not primarily due to liver failure but due to kidney impairment or infection. It is thought that may be related to the effect that having liver disease has on the heart. Liver disease is known to cause impairment of the heart’s function but the exact mechanism for this remains unclear. The heart muscle may not have enough blood supply due to the fact that there is a higher volume of blood shifted to the peripheral and gut circulation in people with liver disease.
  People with chronic kidney disease have higher death rates from heart disease. It is becoming increasingly clear that this is due to different reasons from the general population such as chronic inflammation, changes in the way bone minerals are processed and malnutrition. These factors are well recognised in advanced kidney disease but the increased risk of dying from heart disease begins to occur at an early stage in the disease. Currently, relatively little is known about the heart’s structure and function in earlier stage kidney disease.
  Our project intends to study whether the amount of blood supplied to the heart muscle is reduced in liver and kidney disease using a new, non-invasive MRI technique.
  We will achieve this by inviting patients to come for a single visit which will involve the following:
  • MRI scan of their heart to measure blood supply to heart tissue, function and structure
  • Non-invasive measurement of markers of blood vessel function via various methods

  It is hoped that further understanding of the relationship between heart dysfunction and liver disease will contribute to the efforts to reduce deaths from these chronic diseases.

• REC name

  East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  14/EM/0085

• Date of REC Opinion

  14 Mar 2014

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion