
Rivaroxaban vs Warfarin in Patients With Metallic Prosthesis
Prostheses and ImplantsStroke2 moreMechanical heart valves (MHV) demand lifelong anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists (VKA) due to the high thrombogenicity of the prosthesis. Rivaroxaban has previously been tested in experimental and animal models with encouraging results. The investigators recently sent for publication an experiment with 7 patients who used rivaroxaban in metallic prosthesis with encouraging results. In this way it was decided to do a randomized non-inferiority clinical trial comparing rivaroxaban with warfarin in patients with metallic prosthesis.

HEARTBiT: Multi-Marker Blood Test for Acute Cardiac Transplant Rejection
Heart Transplant Failure and RejectionHeart Failure5 moreHeart transplantation is a life saving therapy for people with end stage heart failure. Acute rejection, a process where the immune system recognizes the transplanted heart as foreign and mounts a response against it, remains a clinical problem despite improvements in immunosuppressive drugs. Acute rejection occurs in 20-30% of patients within the first 3 months post-transplant, and is currently detected by highly invasive heart tissue biopsies that happen 12-15 times in the first year post-transplant. Replacing the biopsy with a simple blood test is of utmost value to patients and will reduce healthcare costs. The goal of our project is to develop a new blood test to monitor heart transplant rejection. Advances in biotechnology have enabled simultaneous measurement of many molecules (e.g., proteins, nucleic acids) in blood, driving the development of new diagnostics. Our team is a leader in using computational tools to combine information from numerous biological molecules and clinical data to generate "biomarker panels" that are more powerful than existing diagnostic tests. Our sophisticated analytic methods has recently derived HEARTBiT, a promising test of acute rejection comprising 9 RNA biomarkers, from the measurement of 30,000 blood molecules in 150 Canadian heart transplant patients. Our objective is to study a custom-built HEARTBiT test in a setting and on a technology that enable clinical adoption. We will evaluate the new test on 400 new patients from 5 North American transplant centres. We will also track patients' HEARTBiT scores over time to help predict future rejection, and explore use of proteins and micoRNAs to improve HEARTBiT. Our work will provide the basis for a future clinical trial. The significance of this work rests in that it will provide a tool to identify acute cardiac rejection in a fast, accurate, cost-effective and minimally invasive manner, allowing for facile long-term monitoring and therapy tailoring for heart transplant patients.

Ozone Therapy in Refractory Ischemic Heart Disease.
Ischemic Heart DiseaseThe main objective of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of adding ozone therapy to standard management of patients with advanced ischemic heart disease refractory to medical and surgical treatment.

ISCHEMIA-EXTEND (Extended Follow-up)
Cardiovascular DiseasesCoronary Disease3 moreThe International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness with Medical and Invasive Approaches (ISCHEMIA) Extended Follow-up (ISCHEMIA-EXTEND) is the long-term follow-up of randomized, surviving participants in ISCHEMIA. ISCHEMIA was an NHLBI-supported trial that randomized 5,179 participants with stable ischemic heart disease to two different management strategies: 1) an initial invasive strategy (INV) of cardiac catheterization and revascularization when feasible plus guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), or 2) an initial conservative strategy (CON) of GDMT. The trial did not demonstrate a reduction in the primary endpoint with an initial invasive strategy. There was an excess of procedural myocardial infarction (MI) and a reduction in spontaneous MI in the INV group. Prior evidence suggests that spontaneous MI carries a higher risk of subsequent death than procedural MI. There was a late separation in the cardiovascular (CV) mortality curves over a median of 3.2 years follow-up in ISCHEMIA. The MI incidence curves crossed at approximately 2 years. However, during the trial follow-up phase there were excess non-CV deaths in the invasive strategy. Therefore, it is imperative to ascertain long-term vital status to provide patients and clinicians with robust evidence on whether there are differences between management strategies and to increase precision around the treatment effect estimates for risk of all-cause, CV and non-CV death over the long-term. Overarching Goal: To assess the effect of an initial invasive strategy on long-term all-cause, CV and non-CV mortality compared with an initial conservative strategy in SIHD patients with at least moderate ischemia on stress testing, over 10 years median follow-up. Condition: Coronary Disease Procedure: Observational Phase: Phase III per NIH Condition: Cardiovascular Diseases Procedure: Observational Phase: Phase III per NIH Condition: Heart Diseases Procedure: Observational Phase: Phase III per NIH

Meta-analysis of Oat Fiber and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction.
Cardiovascular DiseasesCoronary Heart DiseaseOat fibre has been shown to lower cholesterol and may have cardioprotective effects. However, whether this translates to actual cardiovascular risk reduction is unclear, as there is a lack of controlled human trials. To address this uncertainty, the investigator proposes to use established cardiovascular disease risk scores, such as those recommended by the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and other clinical practice groups, to create composite risk scores in assessing future risk. The data on oat fibre will be collected through a systematic review of controlled trials, composite cardiovascular risk scores will be calculated for each eligible study, and meta-analyses will be conducted to assess the overall effect. The findings generated by this proposed knowledge synthesis will help improve the health of consumers through informing evidence-based guidelines and improving health outcomes by educating healthcare providers and patients, stimulating industry innovation, and guiding future research design.

Second-line Therapies for Patients With Type 2 Diabetes and Moderate Cardiovascular Disease Risk...
Type 2 DiabetesCardiac DiseaseWe will use the target trial framework for causal inference to conduct this observational retrospective cohort study that uses claims data of adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) included in the de-identified datasets of OptumLabs Data Warehouse (OLDW) and Medicare fee-for-service. In Aim 1, we will emulate a target trial comparing the effectiveness of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA), sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP-4i), and sulfonylureas (SU) in adults with T2D at moderate risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) with regard to major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), expanded MACE, microvascular complications, severe hypoglycemia, and other adverse events. In Aim 2, we will compare these four drug classes in the same population of adults with T2D included in OLDW and Medicare fee-for-service data with respect to a set of composite outcomes identified by a group of patients with T2D as being most important to them. Specifically, in Aim 2A, we will prospectively elicit patient preferences toward various treatment outcomes (e.g., hospitalization, kidney disease) using a participatory ranking exercise, then use these rankings to generate individually weighted composite outcomes. Then, in Aim 2B, we will estimate patient-centered treatment effects of four different second-line T2D medications that reflect the patient's value for each outcome. In Aim 3, we will compare different medications within each of the four therapeutic classes with respect to MACE.

Healthcare Transition of Adolescents With Chronic Health Conditions
TransitionDiabetes6 moreAt least 12% of children have a chronic disease that requires regular medical follow-up after patients reach legal maturity. This international study aims to provide prospective evidence for improving health and wellbeing outcomes in this population. The primary hypothesis is that transition readiness will be more strongly associated with adherence to follow-up, fewer emergency visits and continued education than disease severity or chronological age. The secondary hypothesis is that positive experiences of care will be associated with lower levels of anxiety. Positive care experiences and low anxiety will predict better health-related quality of life during the transition period. A cohort of 504 young patients will be followed for three years. Patients have been recruited from pediatric hospitals 0-12 months prior to the transfer of care and follow-up will be completed after the patients have been followed for two years in adult healthcare.

Continuous Wireless Monitoring of Vital Signs and Automated Alerts in Hospitalized Patients
Surgical ComplicationPulmonary Disease4 moreThe primary aim of this study is to test and assess the implementation and effectiveness of continuous wireless vital signs monitoring with real-time alerts on: The frequency of patients monitored with adequate data quality as adequate clinical user satisfaction in the initial versus the last part of the trial (primary outcome).

Iloprost for the Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease
Pulmonary Arterial HypertensionCongenital Heart Disease1 morePulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), or high blood pressure in the lungs, is common in patients with congenital heart disease. Historically these patients suffered significant morbidity and mortality due to a lack of effective therapies. More recently, advanced therapies which target the mechanisms underlying the development and progression of PAH have been introduced into clinical care. Oral, intravenous, subcutaneous, and inhaled therapies are all available for the treatment of PAH. Patients with PAH are first treated with oral agents (including sildenafil and bosentan). However, if these agents fail to achieve the desired effect for the patient, intravenous or inhaled therapies may be initiated. Combination therapy with multiple agents is common in routine clinical care. However, the most efficacious therapeutic regimen has yet to be delineated. The present study seeks to evaluate the efficacy of one specific regimen: iloprost, an inhaled prostacyclin derivative, used in combination with oral therapy (sildenafil and/or bosentan). Iloprost has been approved by the FDA for use in this patient population. Adults with PAH already receiving oral therapy will be invited to participate in this study. Iloprost will be added to their current therapeutic regimen for a period of three months, with pre- and post-treatment assessments. These will include a cardiopulmonary exercise test, BNP (a blood test), six minute walking distance, and a quality of life questionnaire.

REPAIR - transcatheteR rEPair of mitrAl Insufficiency With caRdioband System
Mitral Valve InsufficiencyCardiac Valve Annuloplasty5 moreThe Cardioband Transcatheter System (Cardioband) is indicated for the treatment of secondary (functional) mitral regurgitation (FMR). The Cardioband is a transcatheter system, deployed on the beating heart through a transseptal approach. The Cardioband is deployed along the posterior annulus of the mitral valve (MV) and is adjusted under trans-esophageal guidance on the beating heart. A CE mark study with 30 subjects has been completed and documented reduction of severity of mitral regurgitation (MR) and improvement in 6- minute walk test in subjects with moderate to severe MR. Study objectives are to test the efficacy of the Cardioband in improving MR and heart failure symptoms in patients with symptomatic (New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III-IVa), severe MR in the post-marketing setting, And to evaluate the safety of the Cardioband system in the post-marketing setting.