What we do
About our project
Biomarkers
Biomarkers are substances measurable in blood that can reflect a certain disease process such as inflammation or burden of the heart. Biomarkers may for instance help us to detect heart failure in an earlier stage. For this project we collect blood samples of patients with adult congenital heart disease and adults with pulmonary hypertension and store them by -80 ºC in our ‘BioBank”. We use the blood to measure biomarkers at a later moment in time. In this way, we are able to measure new biomarkers that are not measurable at the moment of blood drawing.
Adult Congenital Heart Disease
Nowadays, almost 90% of the children born with a congenital heart defect reaches adulthood. This is mainly due to improved treatments and surgical techniques. Because of their abnormal anatomy and often prior surgical interventions, these patients have a high burden of arrhythmia’s, heart failure and (sudden) cardiac death at adult age. With the help of biomarkers, we hope to better identify patients that are at high risk of these complications so we can adjust and optimize the treatment in an early stage.
Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension is a rare disease characterized by an elevated pulmonary arterial pressure, which can be caused by multiple conditions. Pulmonary hypertension may develop at any age and these patients have a high risk of heart failure and a very poor prognosis. This study aims to investigate biomarker levels in pulmonary hypertension patients at the time of their diagnosis to gain insight in the pathophysiology of this disease. Moreover, we look whether biomarkers can help us to detect patients that are deteriorating and may need to be watched more closely than others.
Our research focus
Biomarker evolutions over time
A great advantage of biomarkers, is that they are relatively easy and objectively to measure, which is important when you want to measure it repeatedly. This projects also focuses on the evolution of biomarkers over time by repeatedly measuring the biomarkers within certain time intervals and links this to the occurrence of for instance heart failure, arrhythmia or the need for a re-intervention. The individual biomarker trajectories may more accurately represent the well-being of a patient, compared to just a single measurement at a single point in time.
Risk prediction models
Besides biomarkers, there are also other measures than can help to determine the prognosis of patients, such as demographic characteristics, symptoms of heart failure and measures obtainable by imaging modalities. Combining these different measurements to estimate an individual patients’ risk with the use of a computer model, is called a risk prediction model. This can be implemented in an online application that could then be used in clinic and help physician’s estimate prognoses of patients. This project aims to develop a clinically useful risk prediction model for adults with congenital heart disease, wherefore we collaborate with Boston Children’s Hospital.
Collaborations
Internal collaborations
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology
- Department of Pulmonary Diseases
- Department of Experimental Cardiology
External collaborations
Publications
(1-12)
1. Geenen LW, Baggen VJM, van den Bosch AE, Eindhoven JA, Cuypers J, Witsenburg M, et al. Prognostic value of soluble ST2 in adults with congenital heart disease. Heart. 2019;105(13):999-1006.
2. Geenen LW, Baggen VJM, Koudstaal T, Boomars KA, Eindhoven JA, Boersma E, et al. The prognostic value of various biomarkers in adults with pulmonary hypertension; a multi-biomarker approach. Am Heart J. 2019;208:91-9.
3. Baggen VJM, Venema E, Zivna R, van den Bosch AE, Eindhoven JA, Witsenburg M, et al. Development and validation of a risk prediction model in patients with adult congenital heart disease. Int J Cardiol. 2019;276:87-92.
4. Baggen VJM, van den Bosch AE, van Kimmenade RR, Eindhoven JA, Witsenburg M, Cuypers J, et al. Red cell distribution width in adults with congenital heart disease: A worldwide available and low-cost predictor of cardiovascular events. Int J Cardiol. 2018;260:60-5.
5. Baggen VJM, van den Bosch AE, Eindhoven JA, Menting ME, Witsenburg M, Cuypers J, et al. Prognostic value of galectin-3 in adults with congenital heart disease. Heart. 2018;104(5):394-400.
6. Baggen VJM, Baart SJ, van den Bosch AE, Eindhoven JA, Witsenburg M, Cuypers J, et al. Prognostic Value of Serial N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide Measurements in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease. J Am Heart Assoc. 2018;7(7).
7. Baggen VJ, van den Bosch AE, Eindhoven JA, Schut AW, Cuypers JA, Witsenburg M, et al. Prognostic Value of N-Terminal Pro-B-Type Natriuretic Peptide, Troponin-T, and Growth-Differentiation Factor 15 in Adult Congenital Heart Disease. Circulation. 2017;135(3):264-79.
8. Eindhoven JA, van den Bosch AE, Oemrawsingh RM, Baggen VJ, Kardys I, Cuypers JA, et al. Release of growth-differentiation factor 15 and associations with cardiac function in adult patients with congenital heart disease. Int J Cardiol. 2016;202:246-51.
9. Baggen VJ, Eindhoven JA, van den Bosch AE, Witsenburg M, Cuypers JA, Langstraat JS, et al. Matrix metalloproteinases as candidate biomarkers in adults with congenital heart disease. Biomarkers. 2016;21(5):466-73.
10. Eindhoven JA, Roos-Hesselink JW, van den Bosch AE, Kardys I, Cheng JM, Veenis JF, et al. High-sensitive troponin-T in adult congenital heart disease. Int J Cardiol. 2015;184:405-11.
11. Eindhoven JA, Menting ME, van den Bosch AE, Cuypers JA, Ruys TP, Witsenburg M, et al. Associations between N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and cardiac function in adults with corrected tetralogy of Fallot. Int J Cardiol. 2014;174(3):550-6.
12. Eindhoven JA, van den Bosch AE, Ruys TP, Opic P, Cuypers JA, McGhie JS, et al. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide and its relationship with cardiac function in adults with congenital heart disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013;62(13):1203-12.
