27 Apr 21. Edinburgh Imaging FAPI accomplishment

Edinburgh Imaging & NHS radio-pharmacy collaborated successfully, to produce the first ever Gallium radiotracer cardiac images, in patients who recently suffered heart attacks.

PET-MR image of the heart in 2-chamber & short axis views. The bright yellow-orange region is where 68-Ga-FAPI is taken up in active scar tissue which correlates to damage from a recent heart attack. This tells us that 68-Ga-FAPI PET identifies tissue damage very well & when combined with anatomical imaging, is a promising method to help us learn more about human cardiovascular scarring.
These images produced using PET/MR show the heart in 2-chamber & short axis views. The bright yellow-orange region shows uptake of 68-Ga-FAPI within areas of active scar formation which correlates to the area of damage from a recent heart attack. This tells us that 68-Ga-FAPI PET is excellent in identifying areas of damage &, when combined with anatomical imaging, looks to be a promising method to help us learn more about scarring activity as it occurs in the human cardiovascular system.

Fibroblast activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) radiotracers bind to areas of active scarring throughout the body.

Research into their possible role so far has focused on patients with cancer & they haven’t been prospectively investigated in cardiovascular disease outside a few case reports.

To the best of the team’s knowledge, their initial scans obtained in patients who had recently suffered heart attacks were the first 68Gallium (68Ga)-FAPI PET-MR performed in patients without cancer. They were also the Edinburgh Imaging facilities’ first ever Gallium radiotracer scans.

The team have secured ethical, ARSAC & R&D approval to scan a larger number of patients & healthy volunteers to learn more about the scarring process in the heart & blood vessels following a heart attack.

Setting up this project to allow the team to obtain these first images is a culmination of excellent collaborative team working between:

  1. Edinburgh Imaging Facility - physicists, business management, radiographers, radiologists, PET/Nuclear medicine scientists, data management
  2. NHS Radio pharmacy – Clint Waight (who has led the charge developing the tracer despite a lot of set-backs)
  3. CVS research team - Anna Barton, Professor Marc Dweck, Professor Scott Semple, Professor David Newby

 

These images produced using PET/MR show the heart in 2-chamber & short axis views. The bright yellow-orange region shows uptake of 68-Ga-FAPI within areas of active scar formation which correlates to the area of damage from a recent heart attack. This tells us that 68-Ga-FAPI PET is excellent in identifying areas of damage &, when combined with anatomical imaging, looks to be a promising method to help us learn more about scarring activity as it occurs in the human cardiovascular system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edinburgh Imaging & NHS radio-pharmacy collaborated successfully, to produce the first ever Gallium radiotracer cardiac images, in patients who recently suffered heart attacks.

@MarcDweck @AnnaKateBarton @EdinUniCVS @EdRadiopharmacy

 

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