Active clinical trials for "Cardiomyopathies"

Peri-partum cardiomyopathy is a heart muscle weakness that occurs during or following pregnancy. Research suggests that many initial heart injuries including viruses, pregnancy and other unknown causes, can lead to a process of inflammation of the heart muscle which can weaken the heart and cause cardiomyopathy. Why this process occurs in women during pregnancy is not well understood and if it differs from those women who develop cardiomyopathy from a virus is unknown. This study has been proposed to look at genetic information (DNA) as well as the immune system (the body's response to fight off infections and/or viruses) to find possible causes for the heart muscle damage that occurs in peripartum cardiomyopathy.

The purpose of this study is to compare cardiac output results obtained using the thermodilution push technique with the Pulmonary Arterial Catheter (PAC) to the predicted cardiac output results obtained from the non-invasive FloWave™ 1000 device.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether waveforms of the intracardiac electrograms, acquired through an ICD, can be used: to predict malignant ventricular arrhythmias, requiring appropriate ICD therapies, and to predict progression of heart failure in patients with ICD.

This study examines patients with chronic kidney disease-related anemia and measures changes in the metabolism of the heart using FDG/PET scanning, before and 6 months after their health-care provider has initiated anemia management therapy with the FDA-approved drug darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp), which is approved for chronic kidney disease-related anemia. The investigators hypothesize that the heart has abnormal metabolism with the anemia of chronic kidney disease but this improves after correction of this anemia with darbepoetin alfa.

Prophylactic implant of an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) for prevention of sudden cardiac death from a life-threatening heart rhythm abnormality is a standard recommendation for patients with ejection fractions (EFs) of 35% or less. The main purpose of the trial is to determine why patients who are receiving care at a community-based cardiology program and are known to have a low ejection fraction (EF) measurement of 35% or less per echocardiogram and/or cardiac nuclear scan testing are not being approached for ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) implant. Additionally, other secondary purposes of the trial are: 1) to determine if these patients are or are not receiving recommendation from their provider to undergo prophylactic ICD implant 2) identify the reasons providers are not recommending ICD implant for their patients with reduced EFs 3) determine reasons patients recommended for ICD implant by their provider elect not to have the implant.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether mechanical alternans (alternating strong and weak heart beats with a constant beat-to-beat interval), can be used to predict malignant ventricular arrhythmias, requiring defibrillation or appropriate ICD therapies, and to predict progression of heart failure and death.

Patients with cirrhosis have a altered cardiac response to stress. This study evaluate the cardiac response by MRI during dobutamine stress. Hypothesis: impared increase in cardiac output, cardiac index, ejection fraction.

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. People who have a dangerously fast heart beat, or whose heart is at risk of stopping beating, may be in need of an electronic device called an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). An ICD is implanted surgically just under the skin in the upper chest area and it sends a strong electrical impulse, or shock, to the heart to return it to a normal rhythm. If the heart is beating too slowly or at an abnormal rhythm, an ICD can also pace the heart to return the heart to its normal rhythm. The InSync ICD device can change the timing of when the left and right ventricles of the heart are paced to beat. The purpose of this study is to monitor the long-term performance of the InSync ICD Model 7272 and the InSync Marquis 7277 systems for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

This study will examine the incidence of cardiac complications, particularly cardiomyopathy, in patients who have undergone allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplantation at NIH. Cardiac complications in these patients are well documented. Most commonly, patients develop congestive heart failure or pericarditis after receiving high-dose cyclophosphamide, radiation, or other intensive chemotherapy regimens prior to the transplant. Most data in the medical literature suggest that the rate of serious cardiac complications is relatively low, at about 5 percent or less. Recently, a cluster of cases of significant cardiomyopathy in stem cell transplant patients at the NIH Clinical Center has prompted concern that the incidence of these complications is higher than that reported in the medical literature. This study will further define the incidence of cardiac problems, primarily focusing on cardiomyopathy, with the following objectives: To define the incidence of cardiomyopathy in allogeneic stem cell transplant patients enrolled in National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Heart, Lung, and Blood (NHLBI) protocols at the NIH Clinical Center To document the presence or absence of various known or suspected risk factors for cardiomyopathy in the documented cases. The study consists of a chart review of patients who have had an allogeneic stem cell transplant on either an NHLBI or NCI protocol since 1999. This project is a first step in clarifying the cardiac complications following stem cell transplantation, their incidence, and characteristics of the patient populations. It will look at patient demographics, the characteristics of the cardiac complication, and known or suspected risk factors.

To identify new dilated cardiomyopathy genes by genetic linkage and mutational analyses.