Active clinical trials for "Heart Failure"

Only few prospective studies systematically investigated the prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in patients with stable chronic heart failure. Furthermore there is no report on the incidence rate of sleep disordered breathing in this population. This is a prospective multi-centre study of sleep-disordered breathing in 200 patients with stable moderate-to-severe chronic heart failure. Eligible patients will undergo overnight full-night polysomnography, lung function testing, laboratory measurements, and hemodynamic recordings. Measurements will be repeated at 6 months interval for a follow-up period of two years irrespective of the presence or absence of sleep disordered breathing. The primary outcome variable for this study is the prevalence of sleep disordered breathing in the study population. Secondary outcome variables include the 2-year incidence rate of sleep disordered breathing, quality of life measurements, exercise capacity, sleep quality, hemodynamic measurements, and laboratory markers of neurohumoral activation, systemic inflammation, and endothelial function in the study population.

The EVOLVO study is designed to compare the remote defibrillator management to the current standard of care, to assess its ability to treat and triage patients more effectively.

Background. Clinical benefits of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) have been clearly demonstrated in heart failure (HF) patients with severe left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and wide QRS at surface electrocardiogram. However, there is a growing evidence that QRS duration poorly predicts responses to CRT, and that ~30% of patients do not experience any benefit from CRT when pre-implant dyssynchrony is defined according to electrocardiographic criteria. A number of echocardiographic criteria have been proposed to assess mechanical LV dyssynchrony, but at present there is no consensus on their use to predict response to CRT. Study Design. The Italian Multicenter PROject on echo assessment of left VEntricular (IMPROVE) dyssynchrony study is a prospective, multicenter, observational study aimed to assess feasibility and predictive power of mechanical dyssynchrony assessed by echocardiography in consecutive consenting patients candidate to CRT by clinical and electrocardiographic criteria. IMPROVE will enroll 120 healthy subjects and 216 HF patients in 6 sites in Italy. CRT response criteria will be based on improvement in NYHA class and LV reverse remodeling evaluated by 3D-echocardiography. Enrollment is expected to conclude early 2009. Implications. CRT is today part of the therapeutic armamentarium for symptomatic HF patients refractory to medical therapy, with wide QRS complex and severe LV systolic dysfunction. The IMPROVE study has been designed to evaluate reference values of indexes of ultrasound mechanical dyssynchrony that have been proposed in the literature and compare their ability to predict response to CRT in HF patients.

The study evaluates the released myocardial substances in blood of HOCM patients after TASH procedure (small "controlled" myocardial infarction). This helps to identify new pathomechanisms and biomarker and thus provides a better understanding of development and progress of cardiac insufficiency.

ICU care of patients considered "palliative" but without contraindications to admission to intensive care, for whom a do-not intubate order decision was made upon admission represents a particular target for non-invasive oxygenation techniques. The benefits of non invasive ventilation (NIV) in this population are debated especially in cancer patients. The more recently used nasal humidified high flux canula oxygenation (HFNC) therapy may have benefits over NIV in these patients. It is supposed to have better tolerance and could allow better compliance and thus higher efficiency. These potential benefits are major for such a population for which tolerance and symptomatic relief are priority goals

Patients with unexplained stress dyspnea ( ≥ stage 2 NYHA), no significant underlying lung disease, with an ejection fraction > 50%, normal resting filling pressures, NTproBNP < 220 pg/ml in < 75 years, and < 450 pg/ml in ≥ 75 years will be studied with stress echocardiography and cardiometabolic stress test (VO2). These patients may have abnormal adaptation during exercise, suggesting that chronic symptoms may be related to a heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFPEF). More accurate and earlier diagnosis of HFPEF using stress echocardiography and VO2 may better manage stress dyspnea in patients and prevent progression of HFPEF. A clinical assessment will be offered to people with unexplained stress dyspnea. The procedures and products used in this study are usually used as part of HFpEF's diagnostic strategy. During this assessment, carried out on an outpatient basis, an anamnesis collection, a cardiovascular clinical examination, an evaluation of dyspnea by the NYHA functional class and by 2 questionnaires, an electrocardiogram will be carried out, a 6-minute walk test, a biological blood test, a trans thoracic rest and stress cardiac ultrasound, respiratory functional tests (with diffusion capacity of lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) and blood gas), and a metabolic stress test. A follow-up at 1 and 2 years is planned (visit, sampling and resting echocardiography).

This is prospective cohort study with the purpose of improving our understanding of morbidity and mortality risk in patients with heart failure and chronic kidney disease.

Respiratory monitoring during right heart catheterization to differentiate between various types of pulmonary hypertension; The effects of the cardiovascular system on the lung mechanical properties.

Part 1 (POC Precision): Objective : Demonstrate that the Minicare BNP (im)precision in hands of the user is within the expected range of the Minicare BNP (im)precision. Part 2 (sample comparison) Primary objective : Compare Minicare BNP values from capillary whole blood from finger stick with EDTA whole blood from venous puncture. Secondary objective : Compare Minicare BNP values from EDTA whole blood and plasma with Li- Heparin whole blood and plasma from venous puncture.

To assess the acceptability of a personalised ICT tool that facilitates coordinated care planning, treatment optimisation and patient self-management for patients with multiple long term conditions and their team of health professionals.