About This Project

Patients with kidney disease are known to be at a higher risk for heart disease from an early stage. This could be due to the build-up of salt in the cardiac tissue due to the inadequate removal of salt by the kidneys of these patients. To determine whether this may be true, we will be using proton and sodium magnetic resonance imaging to analyze cardiac function and cardiac salt content of healthy individuals and patients with kidney disease.

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What is the context of this research?

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is known to be a major risk factor for heart disease, however, the direct link between these conditions is unknown. Patients with CKD have damaged kidneys that can lead to inadequate removal and accumulation of salt. This has been found to occur in the skin, bones, and muscle. Salt could be accumulating in the heart muscle in particular. This study aims to investigate whether the heart tissue of kidney disease patients has elevated levels of salt, and whether this correlates with the presence of heart tissue damage which contributes to heart failure.

What is the significance of this project?

This research project will be the first to image salt in the heart tissue of patients with kidney disease using sodium MRI. Research involving sodium MRI is very limited, therefore this study will contribute to the studies of other researchers utilizing sodium MRI, the field of radiology with its role in diagnosis and treatment, as well as unlocking the role of salt accumulation in the development of progressive heart failure. If we are able to discover a potential cause of heart disease in kidney disease patients, we will be one step closer to preventing heart disease in these patients altogether. If the cause happens to be salt accumulation, a solution could include therapeutics that aid in the removal of salt.

What are the goals of the project?

The primary goal of this project is to determine the difference in heart tissue salt between 1) hemodialysis patients, 2) patients with CKD and 3) sex and age-matched healthy controls.

The secondary goal is to investigate the correlation between heart tissue salt and biomarkers for heart tissue damage.

In order to achieve these goals we will be acquiring proton and sodium cardiac magnetic resonance images of healthy controls, hemodialysis patients, and CKD patients. From these images we will be measuring the cardiac tissue salt signals in the septal region of the heart, as well as measuring parameters of cardiac structure and function. These parameters will be compared between each group of patients.