15 Mar 25. Rachael Forsythe awarded BHF Project Grant

A new Total-Body Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner was recently installed at Edinburgh Imaging and our INCR colleague Rachael Forsythe has now been awarded a project grant by the British Heart Foundation to make use of this technology in an evaluation study of peripheral artery disease.

As Principal Investigator, and with senior oversight from Professor David Newby, I have recently been awarded a Project Grant from the British Heart Foundation to undertake the first multi-tracer total body PET/CT imaging evaluation study of patients with peripheral artery disease, using the recently installed total body PET/CT scanner at the University of Edinburgh. 

Background

Peripheral artery disease is an increasing burden on our healthcare systems. Despite advances in interventional therapies for chronic limb threatening ischaemia (the end-stage of peripheral artery disease), the mortality rate remains stubbornly high and is worse than many common cancers. Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in these patients, who commonly have concurrent atherosclerosis in other arterial beds. The pathological processes underpinning atherosclerosis are complex and include inflammation, calcification and thrombus formation. Previous imaging studies have predominantly focused on a single process in a single vascular bed, but a holistic approach is needed to understand the interplay between atherosclerotic disease activity throughout the body. 

Our study: A first

We will undertake the first multi-tracer total body imaging evaluation of patients with peripheral artery disease to investigate the relationship between inflammation, calcification and thrombus activity. This will allow simultaneous assessment of multiple arterial beds in this extremely high-risk patient group. We will characterise the relationship between peripheral artery disease and systemic atherosclerotic plaque, explore the theory of systemic plaque activation and provide mechanistic insight into the use of colchicine in patients with peripheral artery disease enrolled in the British Heart Foundation-funded LEADER-PAD randomised controlled trial.

Why do this study?

This novel study represents an exciting opportunity to advance our understanding of the complexities of peripheral and systemic arterial disease using state-of-the-art imaging technology and will also provide mechanistic data for a potential new therapy for our patients.  As a practising vascular surgeon, the majority of my patients have chronic limb threatening ischaemia and this research therefore has the potential to improve care of this large group of patients, whose overall prognosis is currently poor.