SOUNDSCAR study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
UltraSOUND-based Characterization of Ventricular Tachycardia SCAR and Arrhythmogenic Substrate; The SOUNDSCAR Study
IRAS ID
239580
Contact name
Saagar Mahida
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is a potentially dangerous heart rhythm abnormality that commonly occurs in patients who have previously experienced a heart attack. Frequent episodes of VT in these patients are associated with significant morbidity and potentially mortality. Effective treatment of VT is therefore an important concern in patients with previous heart attacks.
Ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation is an established invasive procedure used to reduce the burden of VT in selected patients. Current techniques for VT ablation are heavily reliant upon a technology that collects electrical information (electro-anatomical mapping systems [EAM]). The electrical information is used to identify abnormal regions of the heart where VT originates from (and hence areas that need treatment with radiofrequency ablation therapy). However, relying solely on EAM is associated with important limitations, which contributes to modest outcomes and prolonged VT ablation procedure times. Procedure times are a particularly important consideration in patients with weaker hearts (from previous heart attacks) as these patients do not tolerate prolonged procedures well.
Based on the limitations of relying solely on electrical data (EAM), there is significant interest in combining electrical data and data from pre-procedure imaging of the heart to improve efficiency of VT ablation. A potentially effective imaging technique in this context is intracardiac echocardiography (ICE). ICE utilizes specialized catheters to obtain ultrasound images from within the heart during a VT ablation procedure. The use of ICE imaging during interventional cardiac procedures is widespread and the technique is commonly used to enhance safety of complex ablation procedures.
The purpose of this multicentre study (involving academic UK centres) is to determine whether ICE imaging can accurately identify the damaged regions of the heart where VT originates from (targets for radiofrequency ablation therapy). The identification of these areas has the potential to shorten VT ablation procedure times.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/EE/0107
Date of REC Opinion
25 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Unfavourable Opinion