Multi-centre Computed tomography Calcium scoring study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Multi-centre Study validating Computed Tomography Calcium Score thresholds for Severe Aortic Stenosis
IRAS ID
213764
Contact name
Marc Dweck
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 0 days
Research summary
Aortic Stenosis is a condition whereby calcium develops on a major heart valve causing a progressive narrowing and therefore obstruction of blood flow from the heart. When aortic stenosis becomes severe the only treatment is an aortic valve replacement, Disease severity is conventionally assessed using ultrasound scans (echocardiograms) which combine several different assessments of valve blood flow to give an overall grade of severity. Deciding whether someone has severe aortic stenosis is of critical importance as it guides decisions regarding timing of surgery. Sometimes diagnosis using ultrasound can be confusing however with conflicting measurements, and therefore an alternative technique is desirable to confirm the presence of severe aortic stenosis. The results of a multi-centre study were published in 2013 and they proposed that by measuring the amount of calcium on the valves using computed tomography (CT) scans it was possible to determine whether a patient had severe aortic stenosis. They have also proposed thresholds for the amount of calcium on the valve required to make a diagnosis of severe aortic stenosis. In order for these thresholds to be used in guidelines, they need to be demonstrated to be correct in a separate group of patients (validated). We are therefore asking different centres around the world to send us anonymised scan data so we can determine whether these thresholds hold true for a separate population of patients.
REC name
South East Scotland REC 01
REC reference
16/SS/0173
Date of REC Opinion
26 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion