Active clinical trials for "Cardiomyopathies"

The purpose of this trial is to study the genetic and phenotypic aspects of Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Dysplasia/Cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C), and determine the impact of genetic testing in clinical practice.

To evaluate the impact of left ventricular (LV) lead location on LV mechanical function.

The purpose of this study is to learn about the twisting or wringing motion of the heartbeat called Left Ventricular Torsion (LV Torsion) which can be seen on ultrasound.

The purpose of this study is to describe the characteristics of patients with amyloidosis and severe heart failure being evaluated for cardiac and stem cell transplantation.

Heart failure is a progressive disease that decreases the pumping action of the heart. This may cause a backup of fluid in the heart and may result in heart beat changes. When there are changes in the heart beat sometimes an implantable heart device is used to control the rate and rhythm of the heart beat. In certain heart failure cases, when the two lower chambers of the heart no longer beat in a coordinated manner, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) may be prescribed. CRT is similar to a pacemaker. It is placed (implanted) under the skin of the upper chest. CRT is delivered as tiny electrical pulses to the right and left ventricles through three or four leads (soft insulated wires) that are inserted through the veins to the heart. The purpose of this study is to monitor the long-term performance of the InSync Model 8040 (InSync) and InSync III Model 8042 (InSync III) systems for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

This observational study will provide data (variations in ventricular size and function) that are essential to designing and conducting clinical trials. In addition, the study will evaluate intra- and inter-study variability seen in echocardiography.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetically inherited disease affecting the heart. It causes thickening of heart muscle, especially the chamber responsible for pumping blood out of the heart, the left ventricle. This condition can cause patients to experience symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, and heart beat palpitations. Researchers believe the disease may be caused by abnormalities in the genes responsible for producing proteins of the heart muscle. Oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is another genetically inherited disease. This condition affects the muscles of the eyes and throat causing symptoms of weak eye movements, difficulty swallowing and speaking, and weakness of the arms and legs. In previous studies researchers have found that several patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) also had oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD). Researchers are interested in learning more about how these two diseases are associated with each other. In this study, researcher plan to collect samples of muscles (skeletal muscle biopsies) from patients belonging to families in which several members have inherited one or both of these diseases. The muscle samples will be used to link the muscle abnormalities with the specific genetic mutations. Patients participating in this study may not be directly benefited by it. However, information gathered because of this study may be used to develop better techniques for diagnosing and treating these conditions.

The human heart is divided into four chambers. One of the four chambers, the left ventricle, is the chamber mainly responsible for pumping blood out of the heart into the circulation. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetically inherited disease causing an abnormal thickening of heart muscle, especially the muscle making up the left ventricle. When the left ventricle becomes abnormally large, it is called left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Patients with HCM can be born with an enlarged left ventricle or they may develop the condition in childhood or adolescence, usually during the time when the body is rapidly growing. However, not all patients with the abnormal genes linked to HCM have the characteristic LVH. Currently, it is impossible to tell if a patient with the genes for HCM will develop LVH. A recently developed ultrasound tool called an integrated backscatter analysis (IBS), may allow researchers to determine those children who may later develop HCM and LVH. In order to test this, researchers plan to use IBS to study normal children with relatives diagnosed with HCM. This study will compare the results of IBS done on normal children with relatives diagnosed with HCM , normal children, and children with evidence enlarged heart muscle (HCM).

Myocardial ischemia is a heart condition in which not enough blood supply and oxygen reaches the heart muscle. Damage to the major blood vessels of the heart (coronary artery disease), minor blood vessels of the heart (microvascular heart disease), or damage to the heart muscle (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) can cause myocardial ischemia. Any of theses three conditions can cause patients to experience chest pain and other symptoms as well as cause the heart to function improperly. In order to detect myocardial ischemia researchers can use tests to measure the movement of the walls of the heart. Walls receiving inadequate supplies of blood often move less and occasionally move in the opposite direction. Some of the tests may require patients to receive injections of radioactive tracers. The radioactive material acts to enhance 3 dimensional pictures of the heart and helps to identify areas of ischemia. The purpose of this study is to determine whether 3-dimensional imaging (tomography) with radioactive tracers can provide more important information about heart wall function than routine diagnostic tests.

To map the genetic defect responsible for familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.