Myocardial Fibroblast Activation and Thrombosis in Takotsubo Syndrome
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Myocardial Fibroblast Activation and Thrombosis in Takotsubo Syndrome
IRAS ID
363450
Contact name
Shruti Shree Joshi
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 3 days
Research summary
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a medical condition which presents similarly to a heart attack, and is usually caused by physical or emotional stress. It causes sudden severe impairment in heart muscle function, which usually improves in a matter of weeks. However, this condition can be life-threatening and of the most serious complications is the development of clots in the heart. These clots can travel to the brain and cause strokes. Strokes associated with this condition can develop both in the acute phase and long-term, sometimes months after diagnosis.
We still do not fully understand why takotsubo cardiomyopathy happens and why some patients are more at risk of blood clots and strokes than others. We are able to identify clots more easily using a special type of scan called a total body PET scan, which uses a special substance called a radiotracer. A radiotracer is a safe radioactive substance which emits signals and shows up blood clots more clearly. We propose to use two radiotracers in this study to look for blood clots. The first radiotracer is called FAPI. The FAPI radiotracer specifically looks at a special type of cell called activated fibroblasts which often develop when there has been damage to the heart. The second radiotracer is called GP1. The GP1 radiotracer helps show up platelets more easily. Platelets are the main type of cell involved in blood clotting.
We aim to recruit 20 study participants with takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Each participant will undergo blood tests initially to check they are safe to undergo the scans and also to look for heart damage. They will then undergo a total-body- PET scan with both FAPI and GP1 as well as a CT scan of their heart and its blood vessels. The participants will return 3-6 months later for the same total-body-PET scans.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
26/ES/0006
Date of REC Opinion
19 Mar 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion