Projects
The Soweto Cardiovascular Research Unit is currently engaged in six projects related to cardiovascular research in South Africa.
The Heart of Soweto Study
The Heart of Soweto Study is a unique study of the emerging causes and consequences of cardiovascular disease in South Africa. Read more.
Also read about our Heart Awareness Days, which form part of the Heart of Soweto Study.
Peripartum Cardiomyopathy – an Autoimmune Disease
Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) has an incidence of 1:10,000 in the Western world, but at our referral centre we see two to three new cases every week. This unique situation prompted us to initiate a single centre prospective study of patients with PPCM, systematically assessing clinical status, the kinetics of cardiac function by echocardiography and collecting peripheral blood samples over a follow-up period of 36 months. Read more.
Peripartum Cardiomyopathy – A Familial Disease
Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PCM) is defined as unexplained heart failure associated with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction occurring between the last month of pregnancy and the first 5 months postpartum
Although some studies have suggested most cases will have a good prognosis, the evidence is questionable, and it remains a poorly understood disease.
Some studies have suggested a familial predisposition from siblings of PCM patients who demonstrate left ventricular dilatation and/or left ventricular dysfunction, leading us to further examine the similarities between PCM and familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Read more.
Acute Coronary Syndrome in HIV positive and HIV negative patients
This projects forms part of the Heart of Soweto Study, a collaborative project, bringing together internationally renowned academics, that will examine the emergence of heart disease in Soweto and other African communities in epidemiological transition. This project investigates if the increasing incidence of HIV, compounded by the recent introduction of anti-retroviral therapy associated with a parallel increase in acute myocardial infarction due to thromboembolic events. Read more.
Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Management of Heart Failure
Since 1996 Prof. Karen Sliwa is conducting various research projects investigating the impact of inflammatory cytokines and markers of apoptosis on the progression if heart failure due to idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Numerous publications resulted from those research project summarized in Sliwa et al. Circulation 2005. The research in that condition is ongoing and one of the new projects forms part of the Heart of Soweto Study. A randomised controlled study of a multidisciplinary, community-based, chronic heart failure management program in Soweto.
We are planning a project were we will investigate if culturally specific programs focussed on primary/secondary prevention and chronic disease management initially based at Baragwanath Hospital and extending to nurse-led community centres in Soweto improve the risk factor profile and cardiac-related outcomes in that community. Read more.
Hypertension Research Project
Since 2000 Dr. Harroon Abbasi and Elena Libhaber are investigating the impact on left ventricular hypertrophy on plasma markers of apoptosis and remodelling in black hypertensive patients. Elevated plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality, independent of age, functional class and left ventricular function. In the present study of 200 patients we evaluate plasma levels of NT-proBNP in patients with moderate to severe hypertension, normal systolic function and left ventricular hypertrophy on echocardiography. Read more.
Heart Failure Management Program
In the last 10-15 years, heart failure (HF) has emerged as a major health problem worldwide. Since 2006, the Soweto Cardiovascular Research Unit, in conjunction with the Baker Cardiovascular Research Institute and the University of Queensland, has been involved in creating a large registry – the Heart of Soweto Study Registry. Read more.
Other Research Projects
1.INTERHEART-II-Pilot-Study
A collaborative project between University of the Witwatersrand, Republic of South Africa & McMaster University, Toronto, Canada (Prof Salim Yusuf)
The objectives are: 1) to compare the Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) risk factor levels of family members of an individual with CHD with similar family members of matched controls; 2) to explore the risk factor aggregation patterns within and between case and control families; 3) to understand the relative contributions of shared lifestyles and common genetic endowment to risk factor presence; 4) to explore the gene-environment interactions related to CHD risk factor expression. These major goals are motivated by the primary hypothesis that “high risk” individuals with CHD are markers of “high risk” families by virtue of increased risk factor levels in family members, as compared with family members of individuals without CHD.
2. Infective Endocarditis in HIV positive patients: A Literature Review and case reports
MMED-project by Dr. Robert Mvungi
Funding: University of the Witwatersrand