Correlation of FDG PET with echocardiogram ejection fractions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Estimation of left ventricular ejection fraction from routine, clinical F18-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography (FDG PET) scans to determine if this can provide an accurate prediction of left ventricular ejection fraction.
IRAS ID
372332
Contact name
Kevin Bradley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
This study will investigate whether information about heart function can be obtained from routine PET/CT scans. Many patients with lymphoma receive anthracycline chemotherapy, such as doxorubicin, which can affect the heart. For this reason, patients often have an echocardiogram before treatment to measure left ventricular ejection fraction, an indicator of how well the heart pumps blood. If ejection fraction could be estimated from routine PET/CT scan data, this could reduce the number of tests needed, shorten the time before chemotherapy starts, and reduce costs for the NHS.
The study will use data from FDG PET/CT scans performed at PETIC, the Wales Research and Diagnostic PET Centre in Cardiff. The scanner is a new generation PET/CT system capable of high count rates, which may allow estimation of cardiac function from left ventricle volume renderings. This is expected to be possible only in some patients, as FDG uptake in the left ventricle varies between individuals.
Eligible patients will be those undergoing staging PET/CT for high grade lymphoma at PETIC. There will be no change to patients’ clinical care, no additional scans, no extra radiation exposure, no randomisation, and no direct patient recruitment. Patients will undergo their PET/CT scan as usual. NHS staff will anonymise the PET source data at the scanner before it is transferred for analysis.
The anonymised PET data will be analysed by NHS medical physicists at Oxford University Hospital NHS Trust to assess whether an ejection fraction can be predicted. Where available, a contemporaneous clinical echocardiogram result will be used for comparison. Patients without a contemporaneous echocardiogram will be excluded from the comparison.
The research will recruit from PETIC in Cardiff and will use NHS-controlled clinical data. The PET/CT scanner is owned by Cardiff University and used in routine NHS clinical practice by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
REC name
N/A
REC reference
N/A