Half a million euros for innovative treatment of coronary heart disease

^{Translation by Diana Taborda}

A consortium led by ICNAS-Production, a company of the University of Coimbra (UC), has been awarded half a million euros from the COMPETE 2020 programme to carry out a research project called "BioImage2CTO", which aims to develop new imaging biomarkers to improve the treatment of coronary heart disease, one of the world's leading causes of death.

Specifically, the consortium, which also includes the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC) and the University of Minho (UMinho), will focus on chronic total coronary occlusion (CTO), which occurs in approximately 18 to 35% of patients with stable coronary artery disease.

Chronic total coronary occlusion is characterised by complete (100%) blockage of the coronary arteries, which are responsible for supplying the heart with oxygen and nutrients. The blockage of these arteries can prevent the heart from functioning normally and can lead to heart failure symptoms and angina pectoris.

The main objective of the two-year project is therefore "to research, develop and validate new biomarkers in the field of molecular imaging that will allow risk stratification and appropriate treatment of CTO patients". This is an innovative project in the health sector that proposes to improve and adapt clinical practices that are already considered excellent, moving towards personalised medicine," explains Maria João Vidigal, project coordinator, ICNAS researcher and FMUC professor.

The identification of new biomarkers and the development of clinical methods to select the best therapeutic approach for each patient will make it possible to "optimise the management of patients with coronary disease, especially those with chronic coronary occlusions". We intend to make these technologies widely available to the clinical community and they will certainly have a major impact on the non-invasive diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases," says Maria João Vidigal.