Active clinical trials for "Aortic Valve Stenosis"

Aortic valve disease is the most common form of heart valve disease and is a major burden to society. Aortic valve disease is also expected to become more prevalent with the aging of the Canadian population. Currently, over 1 million individuals in North America have aortic stenosis, which is a narrowing of the aortic valve, and leads to symptoms of heart failure and sometimes death. Valve replacement with its potential costs and complications remains the only avenue for treatment, once symptoms develop. Despite the major importance of this disease, there are currently no medical treatments to prevent the development of aortic stenosis.The lack of preventative treatments stems in large part to a poor understanding of the causes of this disease. Using cutting-edge genetic technologies, the investigators have recently identified that individuals with a genetic predisposition to elevations in a type of cholesterol not normally screened, called lipoprotein(a), have a much higher risk of developing aortic valve disease. The investigators have also shown that lipoprotein(a) causes hardening of the valve, a very early sign of valve narrowing. The investigators plan to evaluate in a randomized controlled trial whether lowering this unusual form of cholesterol at an early stage of this disease could slow or stop the development of aortic valve narrowing The investigators are currently proposing a pilot project to evaluate the feasibility of this type of study. If successful, our proposed treatment would be notable in two ways. First, it would represent the first medical treatment to prevent valve disease, which could lead to major reductions in the societal burden of this important disease. And second, it would herald a major success for genomic medicine as it would represent one of the first treatments borne from recent genetic studies. In these ways, our proposal could significantly impact the health of many Canadians while also highlighting the innovative research performed in Canada. Recruitment (n=238) for this project will be from the echocardiography laboratories of McGill University affiliated hospitals. Individuals with aortic sclerosis or mild aortic stenosis (aortic valve area [AVA] >1.5 cm2, mean gradient [MG] < 25 mmHG) and high Lp(a) will be eligible for inclusion into this proposed study.

The present study defines a blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, prospective study, the aim of which is to determine the influence of effective treatment with Type 1 angiotensin II (Ang II) receptor (AT-1R) antagonist, using candesartan (target dose 16 mg) on stenotic aortic valves. The investigators will specifically quantify whether candesartan attenuates the key pathogenic mechanisms of aortic valve stenosis, namely inflammation, fibrosis, elastin degradation, calcification, and neovascularization.

Abundant evidence suggests that Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) inhibition potentially could reduce the hazardous effects of aortic stenosis and improve haemodynamics. The treatment seems safe even in patients with severe stenosis. There are however no randomised clinical trials that can confirm this hypothesis.

The primary objective of this study is to determine the efficacy, safety and feasibility of next day discharge home in patients undergoing self-expandable transfemoral TAVR utilizing the Vancouver 3M Clinical Pathway.

The Nitinol Circular Blade (NCB) is indicated for use in patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis requiring aortic valve replacement, who are going to be operated by conventional sternotomy with native valve resection and replacement by a prosthetic aortic valve. The resection of the diseased leaflets will be performed by the NCB rather than conventional surgical blade.

Multicenter randomised study which aims to compare sutureless Vs. standard bio- prostheses (1:1) among patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement in terms of: 6 -month hemodynamic performance. 6 month clinical outcomes including all cause mortality, stroke, myocardial infarction, valve reoperation and major/life threatening bleeding Cost effectiveness

Iron deficiency is a prevalent nutritional deficiency and a common cause of anemia. Although iron deficiency is traditionally linked to anemia, iron deficiency is prevalent even in the absence of anaemia and in itself limits function and survival. Iron deficiency is a common feature of various chronic diseases, and up to 50% of patients with heart failure have iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is more prevalent the more advanced the disease is and occurs more frequently in women. Iron deficiency comprises absolute iron deficiency (usually defined as ferritin < 100 ng/ml) as well as functional iron deficiency, in which iron supply is inadequate to meet the demand for the production of red blood cells and other cellular functions despite normal or abundant body iron stores. Iron deficiency is associated with poor exercise capacity, lethargy and reduced quality of life. Results from our studies have shown that iron deficiency is prevalent in patients with aortic stenosis. Some of the symptoms associated with aortic stenosis, such as fatigue, reduced exercise capacity, dyspnoea and cognitive dysfunction, have traditionally been thought to be caused by the haemodynamic derangements precipitated by the valvular stenosis. However, similar symptoms can be brought about by iron deficiency, and the investigators hypothesize that intravenous iron supplement will improve exercise capacity, muscle strength, cognition, health-related quality of life and myocardial function in patients with severe aortic stenosis and iron deficiency. This is a phase 2, double blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Participants will be randomised in a 1:1 fashion to receive a single intravenous dose of iron isomaltoside (50 patients) or matching placebo (50 patients). The study is designed to show superiority with regard to the primary endpoint in patients assigned to active treatment versus patients allocated to the placebo arm. The main goal is to evaluate the effect of a single dose of intravenous iron isomaltoside on exercise capacity after transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with severe aortic stenosis and iron deficiency. For this study, the investigators have defined as serum ferritin < 100 µg/l or ferritin between 100 and 300 µg/l in combination with a transferrin saturation < 20 %.

Aortic valve stenosis (AS) shows high and increasing prevalence in Western civilizations and leads to high morbidity and mortality. 15 years ago Alain Cribier performed the first catheter-based transfemoral aortic valve replacement at the University of Rouon. This historical step initiated a dramatic shift in the treatment of AS with more than 50% of patients being treated interventionally instead of the surgical approach, today. Comorbidities are major determinants of cardiovascular events and clinical outcome in aortic valve stenosis but little is known about psychiatric comorbidities or frailty in these patients. Data from our group suggest an inflammatory trigger for depression and potentially other psychiatric diseases and aortic valve stenosis as well as aortic valve replacement are associated with considerable changes in the inflammatory state of the patients. However, no study has prospectively examined the interaction of these inflammatory markers and mood disorders, yet. In addition, frailty is a key aspect of many of TAVR patients clinically, however, scientifically there is only emerging data with half of all PubMed-indexed publications being less than 18 months old and clinical use of various scores still under discussion. The " Effect of interventional aortic valve replacement on emotional status, quality of life, frailty and inflammation"-study is designed to fill these gaps in evidence. It will be a prospective epidemiological cohort study to recruit 102 patients with symptomatic severe aortic valve stenosis within 18 months. All of these patients will undergo standardized cardiologic, psychiatric and frailty assessment as well as a sophisticated laboratory analysis focussing on the inflammatory state. The study aims to integrate these interdisciplinary findings to optimize patient treatment.

A study to assess the safety and effectiveness of the Direct Flow Medical aortic valve system. This is for people with severe aortic stenosis who are not well enough to undergo a surgical repair. The delivery of this device is done via the femoral artery.

Dedicated Sheath feasibility study: A prospective, open-label study to evaluate the feasibility and safety of the Valve Medical Dedicated Sheath during Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty (BAV).