PET-MR perfusion study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A comparison of PET and Cardiac MRI for measuring the heart’s blood flow using a PET-MR scanner
IRAS ID
193769
Contact name
Sven Plein
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Measuring the amount of blood supply to the heart is important in deciding the treatment of patients with heart disease and also helps doctors predict which patients are likely to develop complications related to heart disease. Currently, the heart’s blood supply is best measured using a test called positron emission tomography (PET), but this test is expensive and uses potentially harmful radiation.
Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) may be able to provide the same information at lower cost and without exposing patients to harmful radiation. However, CMR has not been directly compared with PET in a conclusive study. In this research, we will use a new scanner that allows simultaneous PET and CMR studies and therefore allows us to make direct comparisons between the two tests. By studying volunteers and patients with heart disease, we will be able to find out if CMR can be used as an alternative to PET in the future.
We hope to get a better understanding of the heart's blood flow and test if this CMR tool is as good as PET. This will be helpful to patients as CMR is safe, non-invasive and does not use radiation. This tool may help doctors treat patients better by guiding doctors on which patients needs medications, stents or heart surgery.
REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
16/WA/0271
Date of REC Opinion
8 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion