Investigating the risk factors, economic significance, and treatment...

Investigating the risk factors, economic significance, and treatment for coronary microvascular dysfunction

Dr Joseph O'Brien, Monash University

2023 PhD Scholarships

Years funded: 2024 - 2026

My project is investigating the phenomenon of ‘coronary microvascular dyfunction’ or CMD. Up to 50% of people who have invasive coronary angiography, a dye test to image their heart arteries, do not have a cause for their hospital admission identified - with women over-represented in this group. One underdiagnosed cause of these presentations is CMD. The heart arteries start out a few millimetres wide, and continue to branch and branch until literally microscopic. These miniscule branches can have a large enough effect to bring on chest pain and cause significant loss of quality of life. This can currently only be diagnosed through an invasive procedure and expensive additional equipment. Our project is multi-faceted, with the first step demonstrating artificial intelligence can be used to diagnose CMD using standard angiography, proving its health economic benefit, and lastly testing a novel treatment for this debilitating disease.