Papland: Risk stratification in cardiac sarcoidosis

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Papland: Risk stratification in Cardiac Sarcoidosis

  • IRAS ID

    266273

  • Contact name

    Muhunthan Thillai

  • Contact email

    muhunthan.thillai@nhs.net

  • Sponsor organisation

    Royal Papworth

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Sarcoidosis is a disease of unknown cause which affects adults of all ethnic backgrounds. Clumps of tissue called granulomas develop primarily in the lungs, but can damage other organs, especially the heart. Ancedotal evidence from autopsy studies suggests the heart is affected in up to 68% of patients, but there is much uncertainty about this figure.

    If undetected and untreated, it can lead to serious complications or even sudden death. The current recommendation is to perform heart tracings (ECGs) on all patients, but this detects fewer than half of those with heart involvement. Blood markers traditionally used to diagnose heart disease are unreliable, meaning there is no simple blood test in use.

    We propose a study with three aims:

    1. To evaluate the rate of diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis during standard of care clinical practice that relies on patient symptoms and ECG.
    2. To evaluate whether second-tier screening tests (echocardiogram and ambulatory ECG) improve detection of asymptomatic cardiac sarcoidosis in a general sarcoidosis population
    3. To evaluate the likelihood that new cardiac abnormalities arise in patients who have no initial findings by repeating the testing at two years.

  • REC name

    East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    19/EE/0237

  • Date of REC Opinion

    28 Jul 2019

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion