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