Active clinical trials for "Cardiomyopathies"

The objective is to determine whether 99Technetium-NC100692 uptake in patients with ACS (MI) can serve as a marker for scar formation as detected by contrast-enhanced MRI during the process of myocardial remodelling after the ischemic insult. Comparison of ACS and HCM Populations: The primary objective is to determine whether TcNC100692 imaging is able to quantify the extent to which myocardial fibrogenesis occurring early post myocardial infarction differs from that in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The primary hypothesis is that since fibrogenesis is known to occur most intensely in the first days to weeks post myocardial infarction, while it is a more protracted, less predictable process in HCM, there will be significantly more TcNC100692 uptake in the early post-ACS population than in the HCM population. Control Population: Normal control images will allow for differentiation of uptake in the myocardium.

Heart failure affects over 25 million people worldwide and nearly 7 million adults in the United States alone. Nearly 25% of patients with heart failure have worsened disease burden from dyssynchronous ventricular contraction due to abnormal electrical impulse propagation. These patients may benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) where contraction between the ventricles is coordinated by simultaneous electrical stimulation of the right and left ventricles. In animal models, CRT changes molecular and cellular biology by improving myofilament function, ion channel regulation, beta-receptor signaling, and overall mitochondrial energetics. In randomized clinical outcomes trials, the use of CRT further reduced the incidence of heart failure events and improved overall mortality. However, nearly 75% of patients with heart failure have synchronous ventricular contraction and therefore do not qualify for CRT. CRT profoundly alters underlying molecular and cellular biology as a result of the transition from dyssynchronous to resynchronized contraction, enhancing myocyte function and adrenergic responsiveness. The investigators previously hypothesized CRT-like benefits could be achieved in otherwise synchronous heart failure by purposely inducing dyssynchrony for several hours each day and then reversing this for the remainder of the time. The investigators termed this pacemaker induced transient dyssynchrony, or PITA, and tested its impact in a canine dilated cardiomyopathy model. Following several weeks of rapid atrial pacing to induce heart failure in the animals, the investigators compared implementing 4-weeks of PITA - consisting of dyssynchronous rapid right ventricular pacing for 6 hours each night and atrial pacing for the remaining time - to animals that always received rapid atrial pacing. The fast rate is used to generate a heart failure phenotype. PITA improved chamber dilation, increased beta-adrenergic responsiveness and contractile function, and improved myofiber structure compared to heart failure canine controls. While first tested in an intact conscious translational model, no study has yet investigated PITA in humans. This pilot research protocol tests the feasibility, safety, and tolerability of PITA in humans with dilated cardiomyopathy. The study will leverage pre-existing Medtronic (Mounds View, MN) pacemaker/defibrillators implanted in dilated cardiomyopathy patients based on current clinical guidelines. If successful, this study will allow for a larger, first-in-human study to assess indexes of left ventricular function in dilated cardiomyopathy patients with PITA.

The objective of this study is to evaluate myocardial injury, if any, as quantified by cardiac markers (Troponin-T) in defibrillation threshold (DFT) testing during implantation of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) using the upper limit of vulnerability (ULV) method vs. standard defibrillation threshold method.

This application proposes a prospective, single arm feasibility clinical trial of a 12-week period of combined endurance and resistance training in survivors of childhood cancer who were treated with doxorubicin and/or daunorubicin and have impaired cardiac function. Baseline and post intervention imaging, laboratory, and neuropsychological evaluations will be used to determine the effects of the intervention on body composition, serum lipid profile, exercise tolerance, and neurocognitive functioning. Participants will be called weekly to monitor compliance with the intervention. Incentives will be given at intervals during the trial to optimize compliance with the intervention.

If a surgical sponge is mistakenly left inside a patient's body after a surgical procedure, it can cause a serious infection. To prevent this from happening, a new device has been developed that uses radiofrequency (RF) signals to detect the presence of surgical sponges inside the body. The device is now being used routinely to make sure that no sponges are left inside a patient at the end of an operation. However, the RF device has not been implemented in procedures for patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). While the device is FDA approved for use, there is a theoretical concern that the radiofrequency signals used to detect the sponges will change the settings on the pacemaker or the defibrillator. Changing the settings on a pacemaker might make it pace the heart too quickly or too slowly, while changing the settings on a defibrillator might cause unnecessary shocks or prevent it from shocking the heart if the patient were to have cardiac arrest. The purpose of this study is to test whether the radiofrequency device used to detect sponges can cause a clinically significant change to the settings on pacemakers and defibrillators. To minimize potential risk, the device will be tested only on patients who are having the pacemaker or defibrillator removed or replaced as part of their regular medical care, either because it is infected or because the battery has worn out. Before the pacemaker or defibrillator is removed, the settings will be carefully and completely recorded and the radiofrequency device will be used to scan the body for sponges as it would be done during normal operation. After the pacemaker or defibrillator is taken out, the settings will again be recorded and compared to the settings before the scan. In a standard device removal procedure, no clinically significant change in CIED settings would be expected. If a new pacemaker or defibrillator is implanted in the patient, it will not be exposed to the detection device at all. We will also test whether the RF device has any effect on temporary pacemakers that patients may receive after open heart surgery. We plan to perform testing in a total of 50 patients, 40 with permanent pacemakers or defibrillators and 10 with temporary pacemakers.

Rationale: B type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a hormone released from cardiomyocytes in response to myocyte stretching and serves as a reliable biomarker in the diagnosis of cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. Recent observations speak for a distinct connection between chronic heart failure and diabetes mellitus. Objective: The study was set out to investigate the role of BNP on parameters of glucose metabolism in a placebo controlled cross-over study in healthy volunteers. Methods and Results: Ten participants (25±1 years; BMI 23±1 kg/m2; fasting glucose 83±2 mg/dL) received either placebo or 3 pmol/kg/min BNP 32 intravenously for 4h. One hour after beginning the BNP/placebo infusion, a 3h intravenous glucose tolerance test (0.33 g/kg glucose + 0.03 U/kg insulin at 20 min) was performed and plasma glucose, insulin and C peptide were frequently measured. BNP increased the initial glucose distribution volume (13±1 %BW vs. 11±1, P<0.002), leading to an overall reduction of glucose concentration (P<0.001) especially during the initial 20 min of the test (P=0.001), accompanied by a reduction of the initial C peptide levels (4.3±0.4 ng/mL vs. 4.9±0.3, P=0.015). BNP had no impact on beta cell function, insulin clearance or insulin sensitivity. Discussion: Intravenous administration of BNP increases glucose initial distribution volume and lowers plasma glucose concentrations after a glucose load without affecting beta cell function or insulin sensitivity what speaks for the concept that BNP is not diabetogenic, but improves the metabolic status in patients with heart failure. This opens new questions regarding BNP induced differences in glucose availability and signalling in several organs/tissues.

Accumulation of lipid in skeletal and cardiac muscle has been associated with insulin resistance and diabetic cardiomyopathy. In skeletal muscle, lipotoxic damage has been suggested to lead to dysfunction of mitochondria. It remains unknown whether lipotoxicity leads to mitochondrial dysfunction in heart as well, and if so, whether this also leads to cardiomyopathy (failure of the heart). Although it has been shown that lipid lowering agents can improve insulin sensitivity, the effect of lowering free fatty acids on cardiac and skeletal muscle mitochondrial function remains unknown. In this study the investigators want to investigate whether lowering cardiac and muscular lipid content will improve mitochondrial and cellular function in type 2 diabetic patients. To this end, type 2 diabetic patients and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls will be included in a blinded cross-over design, in which subjects will receive a lipid lowering agent (Acipimox) or placebo for 2 weeks in random order. During treatment, diabetes medication will be stopped. Baseline measurements will be performed prior to the study and after each treatment to assess cardiac and muscular lipid accumulation, cardiac function, mitochondrial function and insulin sensitivity.

The overall aim of this project is to establish potential benefits of a novel lifestyle (physical activity and dietary nitrate) and pharmacological (angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor) interventions in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM is the most common genetic cardiovascular disease with a broad spectrum of disease severity. Angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor reduces death, hospitalisation, and may improve cardiac function and exercise tolerance in heart failure. Exercise training is associated with a significant increase in exercise tolerance, but appear to have limited effect on measures of cardiac morphology or function in patients with HCM. Dietary supplementation with inorganic nitrate (i.e. concentrated nitrate-rich beetroot juice) improves exercise capacity, vasodilatation and cardiac output reserves while reduces arterial wave reflections, which are linked to left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and remodelling. Using a five-centre, open label, three-arm, pilot design, the present study will evaluate the effect of lifestyle (physical activity and dietary supplementation with inorganic nitrate) and pharmacological (angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril / valsartan) interventions in patients with HCM. The Aim is to examine whether these interventions improve functional capacity, clinical phenotypic characteristics, and quality of life in patients with HCM.

Detecting abnormalities in the left ventricular mechanical and hemodynamic response to the stress of exercise may offer early diagnostic indicators in patients suffering from valvular disease such as mitral regurgitation. Ultrasound-based imaging methods have been gaining importance in providing prognosis among those patients. However, decreased signal to noise ratio in the images and increased motion-related artifacts during exercise stress echocardiography have been reported, with a lack of reproducibility of results and a the limitation of its availability only in reference centers. In our laboratory, we are able to perform supine bicycle exercise MRI (1.5 T) using the Lode ergometer mounted on the far end of the patient table, previously described in healthy volunteers. The first aim of our study is to demonstrate the safety and the feasibility of our MRI protocol in selected patients with asymptomatic severe organic mitral regurgitation, to assess left ventricular volumes and function, and regurgitant volume in comparison to exercise cardiac echography. Besides, few recent studies sustain the relevance of novel markers of central aortic function (compliance, distensibility and pulse wave velocity) assessed by noninvasive MRI to explore vascular aging. In monogenic connective tissue diseases, altered arterial stiffness is the premature signature of the disease in asymptomatic patients. Noninvasive evaluation of aortic stiffness would be useful for risk assessment and preventive follow-up strategies in young asymptomatic relatives of subjects with aortic inherited diseases, such as syndromic and non-syndromic familial forms of thoracic aortic aneurysm and /or dissection. Furthermore, this technique should be able to evaluate the effect of drugs on aortic stiffness change in trials, before and after drug therapy, more relevant than the classic change in aortic diameter measurement. The second aim of our study is 1) to provide the sensibility of our MRI protocol to estimate local and regional heterogeneity in aortic functional parameters (distensibility, compliance and PWV) 2) to evaluate the predictive value of these regional aortic parameters assessed by MRI to diagnose and to stratify the aortopathy related to presymptomatic Marfan patients and to bicuspid aortic valve in young adults, in comparison to carotids-femoral pulse wave velocity estimation by applanation tonometry.

This study in healthy male and female volunteers will investigate the safety and tolerability of three increasing oral doses of tafamidis