NCT03586518

Validating Novel, Non-contrast Cardiac MRI Imaging in Haemodialysis Patients

Validating the Accuracy of Novel, Non-contrast, Cardiac Magnetic resOnaNce Imaging in Defining Myocardial FIbRosis in Patients With End-stage Renal Disease on haeModialysis: the CONFIRM Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 9 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Leicester · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: —

Summary

There are currently no good ways of measuring levels of scarring in the hearts of patients with advanced kidney disease and patients on dialysis, although recent research has shown a new cardiac MRI technique, called native T1 mapping, may provide a solution to this. To assess the accuracy of this novel technique in dialysis patients, it is essential to undertake a study which compares native T1 mapping to actual levels of scarring in the hearts of patients on dialysis.

Detailed description

Native T1 mapping is a novel, non-contrast, cardiac MRI technique that characterises myocardial tissue by exploiting the different water content of tissues. It correlates well with histo-pathological levels of myocardial fibrosis in diseases of pressure overload such as aortic stenosis. There is growing evidence to demonstrate the potential of native T1 mapping as an imaging biomarker of myocardial fibrosis in patients with ESRD; myocardial native T1 values are higher in patients with ESRD than controls, and associate with measures of myocardial strain and circulating markers of cardiac dysfunction. Although native T1 times are affected by water content of tissues, our group has shown that native T1 times are not influenced by clinical changes in fluid status in HD patients and that the inter-study reproducibility and intra- and inter-observer variability of native T1 are outstanding. Native T1 mapping is a promising, non-invasive imaging biomarker of myocardial fibrosis in patients with advanced renal disease. It is essential that the technique is validated against histology before further use in clinical studies. The aim of this study is to directly assess the relationship between native T1 mapping and levels of MF examined at post-mortem in haemodialysis patients.

Conditions

• End Stage Kidney Disease
• Fibrosis Myocardial

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Cardiac MRI scan	A non-contrast cardiac MRI (CMR) scan at 3-Tesla platform (Skyra, Siemens Medical Imaging, Erlangen, Germany). This non-contrast CMR scan will principally determine: Left ventricular (LV) mass and volumes/ejection fraction and; fibrosis using T1 mapping.
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Echocardiogram	Assessments will include: LV size and function as per the American Society of Echocardiography guidelines. In addition specific focus will be paid end-diastolic integrated backscatter measurements.
PROCEDURE	Cardiac explantation	A limited post-mortem will be performed to retrieve patients' hearts for preparation and storage at St George's University, London where direct comparison will be made between levels of scarring seen directly under the microscope between that on the MRI scans.
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	48-Hour continuous cardiac monitoring	Attach continuous Holter monitor (Schiller, medilog®AR12 plus/AR4 plus/FD5 plus, Baar, Switzerland) that will start before dialysis and terminate just before the subsequent dialysis treatment 48h later.
DIAGNOSTIC_TEST	Blood samples	Collect blood samples from the arterial needle before dialysis. Approximately 30 millilitres of blood will be collected and then be pipetted into cryotubes and frozen at -80°C in an electronically monitored freezer for analysis in batches throughout the study. These samples will be used to investigate the relationship between circulating biomarkers of fibrosis, the MRI scans and the histological samples.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-11-03
• Primary completion: 2025-12-31
• Completion: 2025-12-31
• First posted: 2018-07-13
• Last updated: 2025-04-18

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom