Active clinical trials for "Heart Diseases"

The purpose of this research study is to survey patients to learn about their beliefs and behaviors related to the management of heart disease and to discuss options for making healthy lifestyle changes. From the information the investigators get from patients, the investigators hope to develop better methods for taking care of patients who have heart disease.

The study aims to assess whether a SIMPLE or a COMPLEX strategy is best for the treatment of coronary bifurcation stenoses.

The purpose of this study is to assess the benefits of a combined cardiac, kidney, and diabetes clinic versus multiple clinics. Hypothesis: Attendance at multiple clinics by one individual patient has multiple problems which may be overcome by the introduction of a combined care clinic.

Hypothesis: Blocking the angiotensin (AT) II type 1 receptor (Olmesartan) reduces the incidence of episodes of atrial fibrillation in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation during 12 months by more than 25% compared to standard medication without angiotensin II type 1 receptor. A total of 422 subjects will be included in the two study groups. The treatment arm will receive 40mg Olmesartan per day, the remaining patients will receive placebo. Follow-up is 12 months. Daily Tele-ECG recordings will determine the cardiac rhythm and asymptomatic episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF) every day. Concomitant therapy with AV-nodal blocking drugs are allowed during the study. In case of severe AF-induced symptoms, an antiarrhythmic "recovery medication" (amiodarone) is allowed during follow-up.

Exercise intolerance is a major burden for patients with complex congenital heart disease (CHD), significantly affecting their quality of life. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing provides a reliable tool both for assessing exercise capacity of CHD patients and for risk stratification and is becoming part of the routine clinical assessment of these patients. Exercise has an effect on the muscular, metabolic and circulatory systems. While exercise training has been widely studied in chronic heart failure, its efficacy in adults with CHD remain unknown. The investigators hypothesize that structured exercise training will improve exercise intolerance, in particular peak VO2. The aim of this multicenter, randomized study is to evaluate the impact of structured exercise training on exercise intolerance in patients with complex CHD.

Medical progress and modification of lifestyles have prolonged life expectancy, despite the development of chronic diseases. The support and care are often provided by a network of informal caregivers composed of family, friends, and neighbors. They became essential to help maintening the elderly persons to live at home. It has been demonstrated that the importance and the diversity of informal tasks may jeopardize their own physical, mental and social well-being. The aim of the Informal Carers of Elderly Cohort is to define, through a longitudinal study of their life course, the profiles of caregivers of patients with a diagnosis of one of the following diseases: cancer (breast, prostate, colon-rectum), neuro-degenerative diseases (Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and similar diseases), neuro-vascular diseases (Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)), Age-related Macular Degeneration(AMD) and heart disease (heart failure), aged ≥ 60 years old and living in Burgundy or Franche-Comte. By following the different phases of the caregiving relationship from the announcement of the diagnosis, it will be possible to assess the quality of life of caregivers and evaluate the implementation of a pragmatic social action to help informal caregivers through a randomized intervention trial nested in the cohort. Thanks to an analytical and longitudinal definition of the profiles of informal caregivers, this study could gather precise information on their life courses and their health trajectory by identifying the consequences associated with the concept of their role of aid in care. In addition, the randomized intervention trial will explore the efficacy, in terms of quality of life, and efficiency of a social action to support the caregivers. These data will allow to identify strategies that could be used to improve the existing sources of aid and to propose new approaches to help caregivers. This study will provide the opportunity to identify the most relevant means of support and to give an impulse for new healthcare policies.

This study will test if inhalation of Carbon Monoxide (CO) will increase the numbers of mitochondria in heart muscle. Mitochondria are the small components of muscle and other cells that convert fuel and oxygen to the easily usable forms of energy (ATP) that power all cell's activities. Adequate numbers of healthy mitochondria are essential to heart cell function. From animal and other studies we have reason to believe that breathing small amounts of CO will signal the body to increase the numbers of mitochondria in heart cells. We propose to test this theory in heart valve surgery patients by examining a small sample of heart tissue (from the right atrial appendage) that is routinely cut out during the preparation of the patient for cardio-pulmonary bypass and that would otherwise be discarded by the surgeon. Muscle samples from two groups of subjects will be compared. One group will breath CO and the other group will breath room air. If CO is effective, we should notice an increase in the numbers of mitochondria in the group that was exposed to CO compared to the group that breathed room air.

The purpose of this study is to compare different combinations of anesthetic drugs (cause loss of sensation) in terms of effectiveness, adverse effects, pain relief, and patient comfort for cardiac electrophysiology procedures. In addition, the investigators are studying the different anesthetic combinations to determine the best approach in terms of identification and treatment of arrhythmias.

To evaluate product performance and safety of the Catheter Design for the treatment of a single coronary lesion.

Shunt quantification in atrial septal defect (ASD) is estimated by Echocardiography-Doppler, with the pulmonary-to-systemic blood flow ratio: Qp/Qs. Higher is the ratio, more important is the shunt, and the consequence on right ventricular function. A value higher than 1.5 is one of the criteria for percutaneous closure of Secundum ASD. Maatouk and al. have demonstrated that a shunt fraction (Qp/Qs) over 3 is a predictive factor of an incomplete reversibility of the right ventricular remodeling [1]. Even if the accuracy of Doppler echocardiography is admitted for Qp/Qs measurement, there is still some technical difficulties. Thus, the right cardiac catheterization for O2 consumption measurement by the direct Fick method is used. The major inconvenient is the potential risk of adverse effects. Non-invasive methods have been developed using physical properties (as the thoracic bioimpedance) or inert gas rebreathing technique. Thoracic Bioimpedance (TB) and inert gas rebreathing (IGR) techniques have been studies on healthy individual and different respiratory or cardiac diseases to evaluate the cardiac output (CO). TB and IGR measure the systemic and pulmonary blood flow respectively. Without shunt the pulmonary blood flow is equal to the systemic blood flow. Thus, Investigator suppose that combine the two techniques in disease with shunt, will allow a quantification of the shunt fraction Qp/Qs as accurate as with the gold standard technique (Fick method and Echocardiography Doppler). The purpose of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and the accuracy of the non-invasive measurement of the Qp/Qs ratio in secundum ASD using the IGR technique and the TB versus the two gold standard techniques: the Fick method and the Echocardiography-Doppler. The study hypothesizes that the values of Qp et Qs determined by IGR et TB respectively are in the same range of values that the one determined by gold standard techniques.