MRI in IPF (Version 1.0)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
IRAS ID
230148
Contact name
Kirsty Hett
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a condition that causes progressive scarring of the lungs (fibrosis). It has a rising incidence in the UK and the median survival is 2-3 years from diagnosis. There is currently no cure for IPF and a only a few medications that slow the rate of progression. Because of this, one main aim is to try and improve the symptoms of the disease.
One of the most distressing symptoms is a dry cough, which is experienced by more than 80% of patients and is associated with a poor quality of life. We do not properly understand the cause of the cough, which makes it very difficult to treat. Some of the nerves are over-sensitive and part of the feeling of needing to cough, involves the brain. Some research has been performed to investigate the parts of the brain involved in cough, by obtaining detailed pictures of the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This has been done in healthy volunteers and those with a longstanding cough, but has never been done in patients with IPF.
We aim to scan the brains of patients with IPF using MRI and compare these to healthy volunteers to see if there are any differences in brain structure. We want to see if this type of scan could be useful in more complex testing of cough in IPF in the future and use this information to develop better treatments for cough.
Patients and healthy volunteers will be approached in outpatient clinics in the University Hospital of Llandough (UHL). The MRI will be performed in Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC). The subjects will be required to attend one appointment at UHL and one MRI scan at CUBRIC, lasting approximately 1 hour.
REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
17/WA/0381
Date of REC Opinion
17 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion