Active clinical trials for "Heart Failure"

Primary objective: The primary objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of ICD therapy compared with control on the endpoint of death from any cause. Secondary objective: The secondary objectives of the study are to determine if ICD therapy reduces sudden death. Study design: Randomized, unblinded, controlled, parallel two group trial. Primary endpoint: Time to death from any cause. Sample size: In total, 1000 patients with 500 receiving ICD and 500 patients constituting the control group. Summary of Subject Eligibility Criteria: Patients with clinical heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 35%, non-ischemic etiology and NT-proBNP above 200 pg/ml. Patients in NYHA class IV will only be randomised if also fulfilling criteria for a biventricular pacemaker. Control group: Patients receiving standard therapy for heart failure including ACE-inhibitor/Angiotensin-Receptor-Blocker and Betablocker unless not tolerated. Aldosterone antagonism is optional. Study Duration: The study comprises a screening period of up to 2 years, followed by a treatment phase of a minimum of 36 months. Randomisation: After fulfilling all eligibility criteria, subjects will be randomized 1:1 to receive ICD implantation or continue usual control. Randomisation will be stratified according to treatment with a biventricular pacemaker. Treatment: After randomisation patients allocated to ICD treatment should receive this as fast as possible and preferably within 2 weeks (latest 4 weeks). The ICD will be programmed with anti-tachycardia pacing and shock therapy. Assessments: Deaths and hospitalisations for heart failure, stroke or arrhythmias will be recorded throughout the study duration. Statistical Considerations: Median lifetime in the control group is expected to be 5 years. A p-value of 5% (2-sided) is required for significance together with a power of at least 80%. With a relative risk reduction of 25% a sample size of 812 patients in total is required. In order to allow for cross-over a sample size of 1000 is planned. Primary Endpoint Analysis: The principal analysis for the primary endpoint (time to death from any cause) will employ the intent-to-treat principle and use a survival analysis. Secondary Endpoint Analysis: All time-to-event secondary endpoints will be analyzed similarly to the primary endpoint.

In this study, the investigators sought to determine whether a stimulation of the phrenic nerve affects heart function. Heart function is assessed by acoustic cardiography.

SITUATION ON RESEARCH Diastolic heart failure (HF) or heart failure with preserved systolic function (SF) is the primary cause of heart failure in the elderly (over 2/3 of heart failure in patients over 60 years). Its main cause is hypertension. The diagnosis of diastolic heart failure is still controversial in clinical practice. It is based on ultrasound and biological criteria (or MRI). Basically, it is concerned patients making acute pulmonary edema with preserved SF and high BNP. It is now recognized that the "primum movens" of this type of HF is increased myocardial stiffness secondary to LVH. Noninvasive assessment of this parameter would allow a more accurate and reliable diagnosis because not dependent on load conditions unlike the ejection fraction (EF) and trans-mitral Doppler. However, the absence of non-invasive tool for the direct evaluation of the diastolic stiffness (so-called passive) prevents to date to use this diagnostic parameter. The investigators propose here to evaluate noninvasively myocardial stiffness in elderly patients with diastolic heart failure using a new imaging tool that uses an innovative ultrasonic technology, the ultrafast echo associated with its elastography function "ShearWave Imaging" (SWI). The investigators work for several years in collaboration with the Langevin Institute on this technology which was recently validated in experimental models. Its principle is based on the creation of a shear wave from a standard ultrasound and calculating the velocity of this wave with the high time resolution of the ultrasound probe, this being correlated with the speed myocardial stiffness. The human study was recently made possible by the development of a phased array probe having the opportunity to work with elastography mode (SWI). PURPOSE OF RESEARCH The goal will be to demonstrate the interest of the non-invasive evaluation by ultrafast echo (SWI) of myocardial stiffness in the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure in the elderly.

Exercise capacity in continous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) patients remains severely reduced post-implant. While the effect of right ventricular (RV) failure early after pump implantation, and its effect on outcome has been extensively studied, the effects of late RV failure on exercise capacity and quality of life (QOL) has been sparsely described. Thus the purpose of this study is to examine RV function and the association to exercise capacity in CF-LVAD patients.

Background: Acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) is a common and potentially fatal cause of acute respiratory distress that requires immediate treatment in emergency department. The mortality rates are as high as 20% after discharge. Currently, furosemide is the most commonly used medicine in emergency department for ADHF. Although nitrate was proved to generate similar effect when compared to furosemide, less than 30% of patients received nitrates. This practice happens not only in Hong Kong, but also all around the world. Moreover, there is limited evidence to support a difference in ADHF patients receiving intravenous nitrate vasodilator therapy or alternative interventions. The aims of the study are: To monitor the changes in concentration of cardiac biomarkers, VAS dyspnoea score and cardiac output before and after treatment of furosemide, isosorbide dinitrate or both. To investigate whether the changes in concentration of cardiac biomarkers, VAS dyspnoea score and cardiac output before and after treatment is associated with the change in length of hospital stay. To investigate whether combination treatment with intravenous furosemide and isosorbide dinitrate in patients with HF reduces VAS dyspnoea score, in-hospital mortality, length of hospital stay and number of readmission to a higher extend than do either medication alone. To evaluate the prognostic values of novel cardiac biomarkers on 7-day, 14-day, 30-day and 6-month mortality and readmission. Design: This single-blinded randomized controlled study will be conducted in the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. Setting and Subjects: Patients with dyspnoea will be screened and recruited from adult patients attending the emergency department at the Prince of Wales Hospital. Interventions: Patients with acute decompensated heart failure will be randomly treated with intravenous furosemide, isosorbide dinitrate or both. Level of dyspnoea, multi-biomarker and haemodynamic parameters will be measured before and after treatment. Outcomes: The primary outcome is the change in VAS dyspnoea score after treatment of furosemide, isosorbide dinitrate or both. The secondary outcomes are the changes in concentration of biomarkers and cardiac output, the number of in-hospital mortality, length of hospital stay, 7-day and 30-day and 6-month mortality and readmission.

Hypothesis: In patients, who have diabetes type 2, are treated with metformin, and are admitted for HF, leads to reduced insulin requirements, as measured in units of insulin, with no negative impact on patient safety. This is a single center, prospective trial. Subjects will be randomized to initiate metformin (starting dose 500mg orally once daily up to a maximum dose of 2,500mg daily) OR be placed on insulin products for management of their type 2 diabetes mellitus.

To compare the effectiveness and safety of diuretics add-on strategy in chronic heart failure patients

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a hospital-based intervention, using motivational interviewing and interactive voice response (IVR), to reduce hospital readmissions within 90 days of enrollment compared to usual care, for patients with heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Heart Failure (HF) with systolic dysfunction is associated with a poor prognosis in the long term despite the use of many effective drug treatment in reducing morbidity and mortality. In this context, cardiac resynchronization (CR), either alone or combined with a defibrillator function, has improved by about 30 to 40% of morbidity and mortality in this population of patients with heart failure. The information on the CR are now well established for patients with stage III-IV NYHA (New York Heart Association), with systolic dysfunction (EF ≤ 35%), presence of left bundle branch block wide (≥ 120 ms) and when medical treatment is optimal. As a result, the number of implanted devices continue to grow even if the implant procedures of cardiac resynchronization devices (CRD) are long, difficult and associated with significant complications with a risk of reoperation estimated between 10 and 15% . One of the most feared during implantation devices stimulation or defibrillation risk is represented by the risk of infection that will lead inevitably to explantation of the device. Despite the use of several preventive measures, including the use of an antiseptic shower, a local preparation for alcoholic povidone iodine (API) (PVPI 5% ethanol + 70%) and antibiotic prophylaxis clinical studies the most recent have clearly demonstrated that the risk of infection was associated with the duration of the intervention and was higher for procedures CR, it is noted in 2.4% in the short term and would be close to 3 to 4% in the medium term. Infections of implantable devices are associated with a poor prognosis, even in an excess mortality. It has been shown that the majority of infections may be linked to local contamination during surgery reinforcing the idea that prevention is mainly based on local measures and the reduction of operating time.

The purpose of this study is to test whether a culturally sensitive self-management (SM) intervention, compared to an education only control, will reduce all-cause hospital days in patients with mild to moderate heart failure and household income less than $30,000 per year.