Ask to take part

Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.

Contact Information:

Prof Elizabeth Jones
+32472457236
liz.jones@kuleuven.be


More information about this study, what is involved and how to take part can be found on the study website.

Study Location:

Find another location


Questions to ask
Skip to Main Content
English | Cymraeg
Be Part of Research - Trial Details - Measuring the blood vessel density in patients with heart failure or reduced cognitive function of vascular origin: CRUCIAL
Back

Measuring the blood vessel density in patients with heart failure or reduced cognitive function of vascular origin: CRUCIAL

Not Recruiting

Open to: All Genders

Age: Senior

London Maastricht Pamplona, Navarra

Medical Conditions

Microvascular dysfunction in the heart and brain, cerebral microvascular dysfunction, cardiac microvascular dysfunction, heart failure and vascular cognitive impairment

This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


The development of cognitive impairment and heart failure is linked to the presence of comorbidities. Comorbidities are other diseases like hypertension, aging, diabetes, and obesity.

Your capillary vessels are your smallest blood vessels. Decreases in the capillary density within a tissue is called microvascular rarefaction and this is a common feature of these comorbidities.

CRUCIAL proposes that microvascular rarefaction is an important marker of vascular cognitive impairment and heart failure. We will develop methods to assess capillary vessel density in a clinical setting to be used for identifying patients with vascular cognitive impairment and heart failure.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

01 Sep 2020 31 Aug 2024

Publications

2023 Protocol article in https://doi.org/10.1159/000529067 (added 03/05/2023)2025 Results article in https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40745215/ (added 07/08/2025)

We will perform an MRI scan of the heart and brain of all patients using techniques that are sensitive to changes in the capillary vessel density. We will also collect a blood sample to try and identify circulating markers. We will use a camera to take a video under the tongue. This camera can image the capillaries at that location and we will see if the capillary density under the tongue relates to what is happening in the heart and brain. Lastly, we will do a type of eye test called an angio-OCT and investigate if we can detect changes in the heart and/or brain by looking at the blood vessels in the eye. These tests will take place over one day.


We will be recruiting patients diagnosed with vascular cognitive impairment (Maastricht only), with diastolic heart failure (Pamplona only) and with aortic stenosis (London only). A fourth group will consist of participants who were recruited as children and have been followed several times over the last decades. They are now elderly. There is no new recruitment for this fourth group.

You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


1. Pregnancy and/or lactation2. eGFR <30ml/min3. Magnetic resonance incompatible devices4. Inability to complete the studyThe MAASTRICHT cohort1. Non-vascular cause for the cognitive deficit. Clinical evidence of neurodegenerative disease(s) such as Alzheimer’s Disease, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy Body disease, or hypokinetic rigid syndrome2. Lack of independence in daily living and/or a clinical dementia rating ≤1.0 3. Lack of capacity to consent to participateThe PAMPLONA-HFpEF cohort1. Severe bone or metabolic disease2. Active neoplasia 3. Flow-limiting coronary artery disease >50% stenosis or prior myocardial infarction4. LVEF <50%.The RELIEF-AS II cohort1. Flow-limiting coronary artery disease >50% stenosis


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

  • St Bartholomew's Hospital
    West Smithfield
    London
    EC1A 7BE
  • Academisch Ziekenhuis Maastricht
    P. Debyelaan 25
    Maastricht
    6229 HX
  • Clínica Universidad de Navarra
    Av. de Pío XII 36
    Pamplona, Navarra
    31008

Participants will receive some MRI tests that are above their normal standard of care. Patients with aortic stenosis and diastolic heart failure will receive a brain MRI scan and cognitive test. Patients with vascular cognitive impairment will receive a cardiac MRI and ECG.
The negatives are that the patients will have to spend longer in the MRI scanner than they would for a disease diagnosis only. For the vascular cognitive impairment patients, they will receive an additional injection of MRI contrast agent than they would normally receive.

Prof Elizabeth Jones
+32472457236
liz.jones@kuleuven.be



More information about this study, what is involved and how to take part can be found on the study website.


The study is sponsored by European Commission and funded by Horizon 2020.



We'd like your feedback

Your feedback is important to us. It will help us improve the quality of the study information on this site. Please answer both questions.


Is this study information helpful?

What will you do next?
Read full details for Trial ID: ISRCTN22301128
Last updated 07 August 2025

This page is to help you find out about a research study and if you may be able to take part

You can print or share the study information with your GP/healthcare provider or contact the research team directly.   

Back to the top