A consortium led by ICNAS-Produção, a company from the University of Coimbra (UC), obtained half a million euros in funding from the COMPETE 2020 program to carry out a research project, entitled “BioImage2CTO”, which intends to develop new image biomarkers to improve the treatment of coronary heart disease, one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
More specifically, the consortium, which also involves the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC) and the University of Minho (UMinho), will focus on total chronic coronary occlusions (CTO), which are found in about 18 to 35% of patients with stable coronary disease.
Total chronic coronary occlusions are characterized by complete obstruction (100%) of the coronary arteries, responsible for the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the heart. The occlusion of these arteries can prevent the heart from functioning normally and condition the appearance of symptoms of heart failure and angina pectoris.
For this reason, stresses the project coordinator, Maria João Vidigal, “the success of the treatment of CTO is reflected in the quality of life and survival of patients with coronary disease”. Currently, the preferred therapy, he explains, “according to international recommendations whenever associated with symptoms and ischemia, is percutaneous revascularization (performed through cardiac catheterization) or surgical, when possible. However, studies already carried out in this context have failed to clearly corroborate the advantages of this procedure over-optimized medical therapy”.
Thus, the main objective of the project, with a duration of two years, is “to investigate, develop and validate new biomarkers in the area of molecular imaging that allow risk stratification, as well as the appropriate treatment of CTO patients. It is an innovative project in the health area that aims to improve, and individualize, clinical practices already considered to be of excellence, meeting personalized medicine”, explains the ICNAS researcher and FMUC professor.
To make this possible, the “BioImage2CTO” team will explore changes in myocardial perfusion, namely the extension of the ischemic/viable myocardium area, which occur in the face of a CTO situation. These changes, clarifies Maria João Vidigal, “are conditioned by multiple factors that are associated with coronary obstruction, among which we can highlight the development of collateral circulation, angiogenesis, and endothelial dysfunction”.
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