Cardiovascular

An example of the impact of this theme’s work

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection: advancing understanding of an important cause of heart attacks in women

Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) is an uncommon heart condition, causing a heart attack and occasionally heart failure or cardiac arrest which, rarely, can be fatal.  SCAD has been reported across a wide age range (18-84 years) but the majority of cases are in young to middle-aged women with an average age of 50.

Although rare, this heart condition has a significant impact on people during the prime of their lives, and continues to impact them through the remainder.

Through the Leicester SCAD team’s dedication to the uncommon condition, vital research has improved our understanding of the causes of the condition. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 16 risk loci for SCAD, 11 of which were described for the first time.

These discoveries have improved understanding and will inform future treatment of the condition. The team has worked tirelessly with patient advocate charity, BEAT SCAD, to increase public awareness and raise funds to carry out more research. In 2024, hosting a public awareness event and launching a new educational website dedicated to the condition, reaching a worldwide audience.

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More about the Cardiovascular theme’s work

In the UK, 7.6 million people live with cardiovascular diseases and there are 450 deaths per day. This costs our healthcare systems £7.4 billion per year. The health needs of people with cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke, are linked to high levels of health inequality arising from factors such as ethnic diversity, socioeconomic deprivation, mixed urban/rural settings and high burden of diabetes and multiple long-term health conditions.

We are using advanced technologies, such as genetic testing and imaging scans, to better understand diseases, improve risk prediction and develop targeted and personalised treatments based on different disease characteristics.

Through this research we aim to improve health outcomes in people with, or at risk of, a broad range of cardiovascular diseases.

We are currently working in these research areas to meet these goals:

1. Discovery: Studying what factors lead to the likelihood of developing a cardiovascular disease, which factors make people prone to progression of the disease and whether they respond to treatment.  This will allow us to better identify those at risk of both common and rare cardiovascular diseases.

2. Personalisation:  We are developing treatments based on the different disease types and tailoring healthcare for multiple long term health conditions, to improve patient outcomes, such as quality of life and increased life expectancy, for cardiovascular diseases.

We are also training the next generation of cardiovascular health research leaders.

Our theme houses state-of-the-art facilities that enable our multi-disciplinary team to conduct translational research, which means taking findings from the laboratory to the bedside.

It also includes a British Heart Foundation (BHF) Cardiovascular Research Centre, comprising office space, meeting rooms and state-of-the-art laboratories.