Surfactant Associated Protein - A Novel Marker for the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism

May 12, 2011 updated by: Rambam Health Care Campus

Acute dyspnea and chest discomfort are common complaints. Distinguishing between the entities that may present with such symptoms can be difficult. This project aims to study - venous thromboembolism (VTE) - a difficult diagnosis that can easily be missed yet its treatment is highly effective.

VTE represents a spectrum of disease ranging from deep vein thrombosis to pulmonary embolism (PE). Early diagnosis of PE is usually based on suspicion raised by clinical symptoms combined with a medical history of obvious predisposing factors. However, in around 30% of cases PE occurs in the absence of any predisposing factors. Individual clinical signs and symptoms are neither sensitive nor specific.

PE is generally associated with hypoxaemia, but up to 20% of patients with PE have a normal arterial oxygen pressure .Classic ECG changes are generally associated with the more severe forms of PE.

Bio-markers such as Plasma D-dimer (DD) have been investigated extensively in recent years. It has been shown that a normal DD level renders acute PE or DVT unlikely; on the other hand DD is not useful for confirming VTE.

CT angiography(CTA) has become the method of choice for imaging the pulmonary vasculature for suspected PE. Yet as in DD the pre-test probability of PE based on the clinician's abilities highly affects the results of the CT.

While VTE is a fairly common and sometimes lethal condition its diagnosis is difficult and based more on clinical hunches than on highly sensitive and specific diagnostic tools. It's quite evident that finding a novel, sensitive and even more importantly specific biomarker for PE would change the current approach and work-up needed for reaching a diagnosis.

We propose using serum levels of surfactant associated protein (SAP) as such a bio-marker. Surfactant is a unique phospholipoprotein secreted solely by type II alveolar cells in the lungs. About 90% of the surfactant structure is composed of phospholipids and the remaining 10% is composed of specific proteins.

Working hypothesis and aims: PE causes ischemic damage to lung tissue. Such damage will ultimately lead to a rise of serum SPA. The primary objective of this project is to ascertain the fact that indeed there is a rise of serum SPA among patients diagnosed with PE, what is the time-concentration profile of such rise and is the rise correlated to the size of the embolus.

Methods: The study will be designed as a prospective study consisting of several steps. The measurement of serum SPA will be done by commercially available ELISA kits. All patients will be enrolled by researchers from both the ER and internal B ward at the Rambam Medical Center.

Probable implications to Medicine: If indeed SPA levels will be proven to be a novel bio-marker for PE this could ultimately lead to a totally different approach in the classification and treatment of patients presenting with signs that may be associated with PE.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

150

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients diagnosed with PE at ER and Internal B department at the Rambam Medical Center

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with proven PE by CT- angiography or by V-Q scans (only high likelihood scans will be regarded as proven PE).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Under 18 years old.
  • Unable to sign informed consent
  • Other known pulmonary disease such as IPF, ARDS

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Berger Gideon, MD, Rambam Health Care Campus

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 12, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 12, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

May 13, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 13, 2011

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 12, 2011

Last Verified

April 1, 2011

More Information

Terms related to this study

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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