Modeling Mortality in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Cardiomyopathy: Identification of Surrogate Outcome Measures for DMD Drug Trials

Purpose

Dystrophin associated heart dysfunction is a leading cause of death in patients with Duchenne and Becker Muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) and Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy carriers (MDC); however, the evolution of heart dysfunction is not well-understood. The central objectives of this proposal are to elucidate this evolution of heart dysfunction and identify measures from cardiac MRI images that can predict death or significant heart disease in patients with DMD/BMD/MDC. This study will create a large clinical and cardiac MRI registry of dystrophin associated heart dysfunction, will utilize advanced image analysis techniques, including deep learning neural networks, to comprehensively evaluate every patient, and will create a risk toolkit accessible to clinicians around the world; this proposal has the potential to improve the quality of life in patients with dystrophin associated heart dysfunction by allowing for earlier and more intensive therapy in patients with severe disease and by identifying surrogate outcome measures for use in therapeutic trials.

Conditions

  • Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)
  • Cardiomyopathy
  • Becker Muscular Dystrophy
  • Carrier of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
All ages
Eligible Sex
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  • Clinical phenotype of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD), or muscular dystrophy carrier (MDC) confirmed with muscle biopsy or genotype

Exclusion Criteria

  • Additional genetic or congenital abnormality that may affect cardiovascular function or progression - Current investigational therapy that may affect cardiovascular function (would preclude ongoing data collection but prior data would still be used)

Study Design

Phase
Study Type
Observational [Patient Registry]
Observational Model
Cohort
Time Perspective
Other

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Becker muscular dystrophy, and carriers of muscular dystrophy Evaluation of surrogate outcome measures of disease in patients with dystrophinopathy

Recruiting Locations

UC Davis
Sacramento, California 95616
Contact:
Study Coordinator
916-734-3456
DMDmachinelearning@vumc.org

Children's National
Washington D.C., District of Columbia 20010
Contact:
Study Coordinator
202-476-2090
DMDmachinelearning@vumc.org

Lurie Children's
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Contact:
Study Coordinator
312-227-4100

Riley Children's Hospital
Indianapolis, Indiana 46202
Contact:
Study Coordinator
317-944-8906
DMDMachineLearning@vumc.org

Duke Children's Hospital
Durham, North Carolina 27705
Contact:
Study Coordinator
919-668-4000
DMDmachinelearning@vumc.org

Nationwide Children's
Columbus, Ohio 43205
Contact:
Study Coordinator
614-722-2555
DMDmachinglearning@vumc.org

Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee 37232
Contact:
Study Coordinator
615-322-7447
DMDMachineLearning@vumc.org

Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU
Richmond, Virginia 23220
Contact:
Study Coordinator
(804) 828-2467
DMDmachinelearning@vumc.org

Seattle Children's
Seattle, Washington 98105
Contact:
Study Coordinator
206-987-2515
DMDmachinelearning@vumc.org

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Study Contact

Jonathan Soslow, MD, MSCI
615-322-7447
DMDMachineLearning@vumc.org

Detailed Description

Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) are devastating diseases with no cure resulting in loss of ambulation, respiratory failure, cardiomyopathy, and premature death. Dystrophin associated cardiomyopathy (defined here as CM) is the leading cause of death in DMD/BMD, and an under-studied concern in DMD and BMD mutation carriers (MDC). CM progression is variable and poorly described in the current era. There are no blood or imaging biomarkers that can predict the pace of progression or the risk of early mortality. More importantly, there are no established cardiac outcome measures. Novel, targeted therapeutics are necessary to treat CM, but these significant knowledge gaps make clinical trials challenging. A better understanding of DMD/BMD/MDC cardiovascular disease progression and the identification of surrogate outcome measures are critical for the field to advance. To address these obstacles, we propose to leverage the Duchenne muscular dystrophy cardiac care consortium (DMDCCC). Created with grants from the NHLBI and the FDA, this consortium consists of eight high-volume sites with similar DMD/BMD/MDC cardiovascular treatment and diagnostic protocols, including surveillance CMR imaging every 1-2 years. This proposal will create a comprehensive prospective registry of DMD/BMD/MDC patients with meticulously collected clinical data and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images; we anticipate enrollment of 950 patients with over 4000 CMR studies. This cohort will be used to better define the progression of CM and to determine associations with mortality. The central hypothesis of our proposal is that integrated statistical modeling based on advanced imaging can improve prediction of CM progression and mortality. Aim 1 will create a comprehensive cohort of DMD/BMD/MDC patients and model the progression of CM. Aim 2 will determine cardiovascular measures that are associated with CM mortality or rapid progression using novel, data-driven, personalized machine learning models. Aim 3 will create a portal for DMD/BMD/MDC centers to determine patient risk. This multi-PI proposal leverages expertise in clinical care, cardiac imaging, biomedical engineering, complex image analysis, and neural networks. To our knowledge, this study will create the largest cohort of DMD/BMD/MDC patients with CMR images, allowing for a better understanding of CM progression and identifying biomarkers that associate with poor outcomes. The resulting risk portal will provide clinicians all over the world with a method to assess their patient's risk in real time, allowing intensification of therapy for those deemed high risk. By building on prior productive collaborations, particularly that of the DMDCCC, this proposal will expand our understanding of CM, improving clinical care and future cardiac-specific therapeutic trials.