Active clinical trials for "Coronary Artery Disease"

In Taiwan, heart disease and cerebrovascular disease ranked the second and third of ten leading causes of death in female in 2007; half of these deaths is due to coronary artery disease (CAD). Postmenopausal status is an independent risk factor for CAD. Early assessment and proper management of risk factors may reduce the prevalence rate of CAD. In the past decade, despite increased attention to CAD in women, most studies focused on certain menopausal status instead of all phases of menopause or on risk factors limited to related metabolic syndrome. Because the prevalence of risk factors related to CAD is influenced by various physiological and lifestyle status in different menopausal statuses, the purpose of this study, at the first stage, is to explore respectively the risk factors of CAD among middle-aged women in three menopausal statuses. At the second stage, the influence of a lifestyle management program on risk factors modification among pre-menopausal women is examined in this study.

Background: Chest pain (CP) and suspected heart attack is the second most frequent complaint among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). Present workup involves in-hospital observation for 6 - 48 hours and requires significant resources including imaging tests, some of which are invasive and involve radiation and radio-contrast agents, which can be toxic to the kidney. CP can result from impaired blood supply to the heart muscle, which may result in impaired contraction of the heart that persists for several days. Bedside echocardiography with semi-automated speckle tracking strain analysis (2D strain) is a novel promising noninvasive tool for the evaluation of heart muscle contraction. 2D strain can be useful for evaluating patients with CP, since it can accurately detect minor impairment in heart muscle contraction that can identify patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and impending heart attack (coronary arteries are the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle). Working hypothesis and aims: The investigators hypothesize that a bedside echo study with normal 2D strain may allow quick and safe ruling out of a heart attack and significant CAD disease as the cause of CP. The main aim of the study is to validate the investigators preliminary findings in a large number of patients in order to establish whether a normal 2D strain can safely rule out a heart attack or life threatening CAD. Methods: In a large multi-center study 1200 patients presenting to the ED with acute CP of an unclear cause will undergo echocardiography as close as possible to presentation and not more than 24 hours from cessation of pain. Patients will undergo standard workup by the ED physicians. Standard echocardiographic findings, but not the 2D strain analysis, will be made available to the attending physician. Data from discharge letters, ECGs, blood tests, stress tests, nuclear imaging, heart CT and heart catheterization will be collected. A 6-month follow-up telephone interview will be performed to collect data on survival, heart attacks, re-hospitalization and revascularization (opening heart vessels blockages). 2D strain analysis will be performed off-line in a central laboratory to evaluate the ability of 2D strain to distinguish between patients with CP from heart disease and patients without life threatening heart disease that can be early released home safely. Expected results: The investigators expect, based on the investigators previous experience, that patients with normal 2D strain will have a very low probability of a heart attack and significant CAD. The investigators further expect these patients to have an excellent 6-month prognosis. This will allow their early and cost-effective discharge. Importance and Probable implications to Medicine: Reduction in ED patient load and a decrease in unnecessary hospitalizations for CP. Cost and resource savings and elimination of unnecessary imaging studies, some of which are invasive or involve radiation and contrast agents.

Heart disease remains the most common cause of death in the UK. Chest pain is often the first presenting symptom in patients with heart disease, and may be a warning signal prior to a heart attack or death. The diagnosis based on symptoms alone however is unreliable and further testing is almost always necessary. Rapid access chest pain clinics (RACPCs) are able to expedite the assessment of such patients. The principal investigation used is an exercise stress electrocardiogram (s-ECG). Although simple, cheap, and convenient, the s-ECG is often inaccurate; missing the diagnosis or falsely suggesting the diagnosis. This can happen in as many as 25% of patients, resulting in a delay in treatment or unnecessary further investigation. CT Angiography (CTA) is a novel non-invasive technique where the coronary arteries can be visualised by Computerised Tomography. In previous studies it shows a high degree of correlation with invasive angiography, with a high accuracy for the diagnosis of obstructive coronary artery disease. However, the technique is relatively new, and its full role is yet to be defined in the clinical setting of a chest pain clinic. The investigators do not at present have any information as to whether it is able to speed up the diagnosis, reduce the need for other tests, and therefore also costs. In this trial, the investigators aim to examine the accuracy and cost effectiveness of CTA in patients with suspected cardiac chest pain presenting to a chest pain clinic, when compared to the more established techniques like s-ECG, myocardial perfusion scanning and coronary angiography. The study will enable us to establish the optimal and most cost effective strategy for investigation of patients presenting to chest pain clinics.

Introduction: Different groups already showed in retrospective subgroup analyses, that there is an increased risk for cardiovascular events in patients on a simultaneous ASA/NSAID treatment. Methods: Light-Transmission aggregometry Hypothesis: Simultaneous administration of different NSAIDs and ASA impair the platelet inhibiting effect of ASA.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether angiogenesis is decreased in diabetic patients with coronary artery disease compared to non-diabetics with coronary artery disease. The protein expression of angiogenic factors will be examined in atrial tissue prior to initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery. The goal of this project is to evaluate the tissue levels of HIF-1, VEGF and angiostatin in diabetic and non-diabetic patients coming for on-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).

No previous study has assessed the potential of ranolazine to interfere with levels of platelet reactivity in patients with coronary artery disease who are treated with dual antiplatelet therapy. Aim of this study is to compare the pharmacodynamic effects of maintenance doses of ranolazine versus amlodipine on platelet reactivity in patients with coronary artery disease who are treated with dual antiplatelet therapy.

The investigators aim to compare the cost-effectiveness of CCTA and myocardial SPECT in patients with intermediate pre-test probability of CHD. To this end, patients with intermediate pre-test probability of CHD will be randomized 1:1 to either CCTA and myocardial SPECT. The patients will be analyzed for cost and also, for outcome.

Blood is anticoagulated using a drug named heparin during open-heart surgery to allow it to safely pass through the heart-lung machine which pumps the blood throughout the body during the surgery. Each patient is given the heparin they need for their surgery. This means some patients receive more or less heparin than other patients. In this study, the investigators will be evaluating the current anticoagulation protocol for open heart surgery in use at the Royal University Hospital. The goal of this project is to compare patients who require and receive more heparin for proper anticoagulation to those patients who require and receive less heparin. Open-heart surgery will proceed according to the standard hospital protocol. All research participants will be treated according to standard post-open heart surgery protocol in the ICU. This will include measurement of blood loss by keeping track of chest tube outputs and administration of blood transfusions. This study focuses on Saskatoon Health Region patients having open heart surgery in terms of the protocol for anticoagulation and blood transfusions.

The UK population is ageing and the likelihood of having a long term health condition increases with age. Three out of every five people over 60 in the UK have a long term condition. Ageing and having a long term condition increases the chance of having difficulty being independent and carrying out day to day activities. In recent years the NHS has made a greater effort to prevent these difficulties in patients with long term conditions. One approach to help patients with long term conditions is case management, where by (usually) a community matron visits patients at home, looking for early warning signs of any worsening of their condition and arranging care and treatment. But the current way this is done varies across the country and hospital admissions are still rising. In order to give the right care at the right time, effective monitoring is needed to help the community matron detect and act on changes in the patient's condition. Loss of muscle strength in old age is linked to a poor health, but it is not known whether simple measures of muscle strength could be used to detect and predict declines in health in the short to medium term to help maintain independence and prevent an accident or hospital admission. The aim of this study is to look at whether monitoring muscle strength in case managed patients is practical, acceptable and useful in detecting when a patient's condition worsens. Each patient will be visited by the researcher in their home twice in the first week, then once every two weeks, for another 5 weeks, to carry out three simple measures of grip and respiratory strength, and complete questionnaires about their health and ability to carry out day to day activities. Each visit will last about 20 to 30 minutes. A small group of clinicians will be asked about their views of the strength measures. Database analysis will allow descriptive data on the patient group to be gathered and analysed.

The aim of the study is to evaluate platelet function variations according to the delay since last aspirin intake (12 vs 24 hours)in a population of diabetic patients with previous Coronary Artery Disease.