MaRPHyNe
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Neonates with Pulmonary Hypertension (MaRPHyNe study)
IRAS ID
351524
Contact name
Manigandan Chandrasekaran
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 8 days
Research summary
The MaRPHyNe study will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to image neonates with pulmonary hypertension (PH).
Neonatal pulmonary hypertension refers to raised pressure in lung blood vessels, which makes it more difficult for blood to flow through vessels, and the heart must work harder to pump blood around the body. This has the potential to impact oxygen delivery to the brain and other vital organs, and cause strain on the heart.
It is a relatively common complication associated with a variety of conditions including extreme preterm birth (<28 weeks’ gestation), sepsis, congenital diaphragmatic hernia and meconium aspiration syndrome.
There is an urgent need to improve our understanding of neonatal PH because of its increasing prevalence and risk of long-term mortality and morbidity in this population. A better understanding of the condition is essential to enable development of safe and effective preventative, diagnostic and treatment strategies.
In MaRPHyNe, there will be two strands of imaging – MaRPHyNe B (brain MRI) and MaRPHyNe C (‘cardiac’ heart MRI). We hypothesise that babies with PH may have brain injury or cardiac dysfunction, as assessed by MRI imaging of the brain and heart respectively.
Eligible babies at a single centre will be identified through the Registry of Pulmonary Hypertension in Neonates (RePHyNe, IRAS ID 345248). Eligible neonates will undergo one or both MRIs. Controls will also be recruited to both imaging strands and will undergo MRI of the brain or heart. We aim to use MRI to look at the short-term effect of PH on the heart and brains of babies, and to understand how this relates to other ways of currently assessing PH and its risk factors
MRI findings will be compared to baseline demographic data and available ultrasounds of the brain and the heart.
REC name
Wales REC 5
REC reference
25/WA/0055
Date of REC Opinion
26 Feb 2025
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion