Active clinical trials for "Cardiomyopathies"

A Study on the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Perhexiline maleate in Subjects with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Moderate-To-Severe Heart Failure

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare, but significant heart disease affecting young women in the puerperal period. Thus far, no specific treatment has been approved to treat this disease. PPCM has a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from mild heart failure to severe cardiomyopathy, cardiogenic shock and death. A significant proportion of survivors have persistent chronic heart failure leading to disabling symptoms and decreased quality of life. Animal studies have suggested that prolactin is central to the development of PPCM. Prolactin has pro-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic effects that may promote PPCM. Bromocriptine, a central dopamine agonist known to decrease prolactin levels, might thwart its deleterious effects in women suffering from PPCM. Following this rationale, bromocriptine should improve myocardial function in women suffering from PPCM and thus, improve cardiovascular outcomes and healthcare outcomes.

Twenty-seven breast cancer women without heart failure, underwent CMR imaging (3T-Achieva, Philips) before and 3 times serially after 4-cycles of adjuvant DOX (60mg/m2). CMR assessed left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF), T1 mapping pre and post gadolinium and late gadolinium enhancement imaging. Biomarkers were obtained before and 72 hours after each DOX-cycle.

The purpose of this study is to identify patients at risk for future heart failure using novel markers of early cardiac damage and determine if exercise training can improve these emerging markers as well as overall fitness and quality of life.

The purpose of the present prospective, randomized study is to investigate the clinical effectiveness of standardized left ventricular reconstruction surgery (LVR). In order to standardize the procedure, the operation will be performed with the Blue Egg, manufactured by BioVentrix, a subsidiary of CHF Technologies, Inc.

We plan to study the concept of "energy starvation" in heart failure by evaluation of patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM) (heart failure with reduced heart pump function due to causes other than heart attack). We will use a combination of positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging to study metabolism, anatomy, function, blood flow and efficiency, before and after 6 months' treatment with the drug spironolactone which blocks the deleterious effects of the hormone aldosterone on the myocardium (heart muscle).

The primary purpose of this study is to demonstrate that changes in plasma levels of circulating neurohormones (mainly BNP and NT-proBNP), measured at rest and post-exercise correlate with exercise functional limitation (assessed by exercise peak VO2) and exercise ultrasonic parameters (as left ventricular filling, obstruction, and mitral regurgitation)

The heart beat is controlled by electrical signals. Following a heart attack, part of the heart muscle dies and is later replaced by scar tissue. Within this area of scar, there often remain "channels" of surviving tissue still able to transmit electrical signals. However, it is well established that these "conduction channels" (CC) can form a short circuit around the scar, leading to electrical disturbances (arrhythmias) that are potentially life threatening. The commonest of these is ventricular tachycardia (VT), and is estimated to cause 300,000 deaths per year. One recognised treatment option of VT involves burning (ablation) these "conduction channels" (CC) within the scar. However, at present, the procedure is long and is far off 100% effective. Consequently, current best practice does not rely on treating the VT, but rather preventing it from causing sudden death - this is achieved with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), a device which can recognise when a patient is in VT and deliver an internal shock to restore the normal electrical conduction. Patients with defibrillators subsequently are subject to recurrent painful and debilitating shocks which, although lifesaving, significantly reduce their quality of life. The limitation with ablation at present is due to the difficulty in visualising these CC's. Investigators at Imperial College have created a novel electrogram visualisation program, Ripple Mapping (RM), which they have already found to be superior to currently used programmes in cases of arrhythmias in the upper chambers of the heart (the atria). During a retrospective study in patients with scar related VT following a heart attack, when ablation was delivered in areas associated with identified Ripple Mapping Conduction Channels, these patients remained free of VT recurrence for >2 year follow up interval. The study hypothesis is that Ripple Mapping can identify all conduction channels within scar tissue critical to the VT circuit, ablation of which will lead to long-term freedom from VT and ICD therapies. The investigators now aim to perform a prospective randomised study comparing Ripple Mapping guided VT ablation against conventional VT ablation.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether the ability of MEK162 to antagonize MEK activation in NS HCM patients, who usually have upstream mutations in the Ras-Raf-Mek-Erk pathway that lead to MEK activation, would be beneficial over a 6 month treatment period in hypertrophy regression.

The overall hypothesis of this application is that the improvement in LV ejection performance following treatment with betablockers is due, at least in part, to improvement in intrinsic myocardial contractility.