Using Cardiac PET-MR Imaging with 68Ga-FAPI or 18F-AlF-FAPI to Study Heart Muscle Scarring in Various Cardiomyopathies and Heart Diseases

What this Trial Is About

Heart scarring, also known as fibrosis, is a key factor in various heart muscle diseases that can lead to serious problems like heart failure symptoms, dangerous heart rhythms, and even death. This research aims to use a new radioactive dye called 68Ga-FAPI to detect and understand patterns of heart muscle scarring. This dye has been used mainly to identify and monitor cancers but shows promise in revealing heart scarring, which may help us better understand disease processes and develop future targeted treatments. Participants will receive a baseline echocardiogram and a hybrid cardiac PET-MR scan using either 68Ga-FAPI or 18F-AlF-FAPI radiotracers at a dose of 200MBq. A follow-up echocardiogram and cardiac MRI will be performed approximately one year later to observe any changes in the heart muscle scarring. This imaging approach is being used to study several heart conditions including heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, cardiac sarcoidosis, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, and takotsubo cardiomyopathy. During the study, participants will undergo detailed heart scans and imaging tests at the start and after one year. Researchers will measure standardized uptake values and target-to-background ratios over 1 to 2 years to assess the heart scarring activity. The study includes monitoring heart function and structure using echocardiograms and MRI scans. The total participation time spans about one to two years, allowing researchers to track changes in the heart muscle over time.

Cardiomyopathies and Heart Muscle Diseases: Cardiac Imaging in the Evaluation of Myocardial Fibrosis Transition