Active clinical trials for "Heart Failure"

Heart failure is associated with faster breathing, which has a negative impact on the functioning of the heart. This leads to fatigue, shortness of breath, and exercise intolerance. It has been shown that when slow breathing technique was taught to patients with heart failure, they had a reduction in their sensation of shortness of breath and an improvement in their exercise performance. The study will compare the short-term effects of controlled slow breathing with biofeedback in normal healthy subjects, acute heart failure, and chronic stable heart failure. The purpose is to see if there is any change in the objective measurements of heart function while breathing at normal rates compared to a controlled slower rate.

QuickOptTM optimization method provides a quicker, simpler and reliable alternative to standard echocardiography methods for optimization of sensed AV, paced AV and V-V delays in patients with CRT-P devices

In addition to the blood pressure lowering effects of aliskiren, it may have beneficial effects on blocking the so called RAAS (renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system) at the tissue level. An increase of angiotensin II is associated with progression of heart failure. Although the use of ACE-inhibitors in heart failure shows clinical benefit, an increase in angiotensin II due to an angiotensin II "escape" phenomenon is not desirable. It is not yet known if a direct renin inhibitor can reduce or even prevent the angiotensin II escape phenomenon associated with the use of an ACE-inhibitor. Therefore the study tested the effects of ramipril, aliskiren and the combination of both on levels of angiotensin II in the blood in patients with systolic heart failure

This study evaluated the effect of early initiation of aliskiren therapy, compared to standard therapy, in the reduction of cardiovascular death and heart failure re-hospitalization events within 6 months, in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients hospitalized for an episode of acute decompensated heart failure.

To investigate the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics (urine volume and fluid intake), efficacy(body weight, pulmonary congestion and other congestions including cardiothoracic ratio) and safety of 7-day repeated oral administration of OPC-41061 at 7.5 mg or 15 mg in congestive heart failure (cardiac edema) patients with extracellular volume expansion despite the use of a diuretic.

To test the effectiveness of a motivational intervention compared with standard patient education in improving economic and clinical outcomes in patients enrolled in an existing heart failure (HF) disease management program.

The primary aim of this project is to test the efficacy of an inpatient congestive heart failure (CHF) educational intervention compared with usual care among inpatients at Griffin Hospital, who are largely drawn from the population of the Naugatuck Valley in Connecticut. The educational intervention will utilize: written educational materials suitable for patients with low health literacy - alternatives to written materials (e.g., video- and audiotapes) that may more effectively communicate health information to elderly patients and those with low health literacy a one-on-one educational session with a nurse patient educator. The educational session will use as its framework guidelines provided by the America Medical Association (AMA) to improve communication between healthcare providers and low health literacy patients. The investigators hypothesize that CHF patients who receive this educational intervention will have fewer hospital readmissions or deaths than the usual care group. The investigators further hypothesize that patients with low health literacy will derive more benefit from the intervention than patients with higher literacy. The secondary aims of the project are to: assess whether patients in the education and usual care groups differ on post-discharge CHF knowledge and on satisfaction with hospital care. Compared with usual care, the investigators hypothesize that CHF patients who receive the educational intervention will have better knowledge of CHF and will be more satisfied with the care they received in the hospital. The potential impact of the proposed project may be to increase disease knowledge and health literacy, and improve adherence to CHF treatments. This, in turn, may contribute to improved medical outcomes and reduced hospital readmissions for CHF patients. In addition, if this preliminary study provides evidence of a promising educational intervention suitable for patients with low health literacy, th investigators will endeavor to test the intervention in ethnically diverse populations throughout Connecticut.

The purpose of the PRECEDE-HF study is to collect data to compare patients whose heart failure is managed using Cardiac Compass with OptiVol (which is a tool in the device that records information about the heart that doctors can use to help treat their heart disease) combined with standard treatment methods (Access Group) to patients whose heart failure is managed by standard treatment methods only (Control Group). This comparison will show if the additional monitoring provided by Cardiac Compass with OptiVol delays the time patients are first admitted to hospital for heart failure or delays the time to death.

An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) is a small device that is surgically implanted in the chest or abdomen and uses electrical pulses or shocks to help control life-threatening, irregular heartbeats. Increasing aerobic exercise may provide health benefits to people with ICDs. This study will examine the effects of an exercise program on heart and lung function in people who have an ICD.

Congestive Heart Failure is the result of a number of diseases affecting the heart, causing the heart's failure to properly meet the body demands for blood circulation. In spite of advances in drug therapy, it remains a significant public health problem. Pharmacologic antagonism of the beta-adrenergic receptors shifting the autonomic balance in the direction of greater vagal influence is a well-proven treatment for heart failure patients, although there are patients who cannot tolerate, or only partially benefit from such a treatment. It has been proven in the past and well established that parasympathetic nerve stimulation can slow the rate of the heart and reduce the workload of the heart. Therefore, the potential benefit of vagus nerve stimulation, hence parasympathetic activation, for treatment of heart failure is substantial. In this study, the safety and efficacy of a new vagus nerve stimulating system will be evaluated. This study will compare whether the new device improves Heart Failure parameters in Class II - III Heart Failure patients.