VASCULARUM
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Vascular Disease Investigation Network- Understanding Mechanisms (VASCULARUM)-a study to understand the aetiololgy and prognosis of vascular disease and those at risk of vascular disease.
IRAS ID
213642
Contact name
Reecha Sofat
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2017/02/73, UCL Data Protection
Duration of Study in the UK
10 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Vascular disease encompasses many conditions both common and rare. Atherosclerosis is the most common cause of vascular disease that we understand, manifesting as angina or myocardial infarction when affecting the coronary arteries, stroke or transient ischaemic attack when affecting the carotid or intracerebral arteries, claudication when affecting the peripheral arteries, pain or sudden death when affecting the abdominal aorta, deterioration in renal function when affecting the renal arteries, compromised liver function when affecting liver vessels and blindness when affecting retinal vessels. Vascular diseases are known to share common risk factors including age, smoking, raised blood pressure, being overweight, diabetes, the presence of local and/ or systemic changes in lipids and inflammation markers, or indeed inflammatory diseases themselves (e.g. Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)). These observations are indicative although do not prove the presence of overlapping disease pathways involving lipids, inflammation or both. Atheroma is a generalised disease of the vasculature that can be altered by modification of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) -cholesterol and high blood pressure. However it is uncertain why some arterial territories are affected more than others in different individuals. In addition, in different disease types (e.g. familial hypercholesterolaemia, diabetes, hypertension), the pattern of atherosclerosis may also differ between vascular beds (i.e. coronary vs carotid vs aorta vs renal vs retinal vs peripheral arteries). Identification of the factors underlying these differences offers the potential for the development of more specific or stratified detection and therapies, and better risk stratification with respect to existing treatments.
VASCULARUM , the Vascular Disease Investigation Network- Understanding Mechanisms, aims to establish case collections, embedded in routine clinical care, of diseases in populations of individuals that are at risk of cardiovascular outcomes, those with established vascular disease or where a vascular mechanism is thought to underlie their condition.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1037
Date of REC Opinion
20 Nov 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion