Cardiac biomarkers and imaging in paediatric heart failure
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the use of novel and established cardiac biomarkers in conjunction with enhanced imaging to improve early diagnosis and monitoring of heart failure in children with congenital heart disease
IRAS ID
296380
Contact name
Claire McGinn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University Belfast
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 3 days
Research summary
Congenital heart disease is the most common congenital abnormality, and in Northern Ireland each year just over 200 children are born with various forms of a congenital heart defect. The majority of these defects are “correctable” by surgery with good outcomes. However, a proportion of these children will experience heart failure, either prior to corrective surgery, or if they are a patient with single ventricle anatomy who will undergo palliative interventions.
Heart failure is when the pumping function of the heart is impaired. We rely on clinical assessment and imaging such as echocardiogram to indicate developing heart failure, but it would be highly desirable if we could detect it earlier. This would improve early management with medications and expediate surgery if indicated.
Biomarkers are proteins or DNA information which can be measured from blood samples indicating organ damage or stress. In the context of heart failure, there are validated biomarkers for the adult population which can be measured and used to diagnose and monitor heart failure. However, there is currently limited biomarker use in paediatric heart failure and therefore we propose to study the use of biomarkers in the diagnosis and monitoring of heart failure in children. The study would focus on three main groups of children: those with single ventricle anatomy who are managed on a palliative surgery track; those who have heart failure secondary to a defect which should be amenable to corrective surgery; and those who have cardiomyopathy. We will recruit patients aged 0-17 years who attend paediatric cardiology services in the Belfast H&SC Trust, obtain written consent and take blood samples at 4 month intervals over a 3 year period. These blood samples will then be analysed for biomarkers and can be correlated to degree of heart failure based on clinical symptoms and imaging.REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
21/NI/0142
Date of REC Opinion
29 Oct 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion