Active clinical trials for "Heart Failure"

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is a well-established treatment for patients with severe systolic heart failure (HF) and ventricular desynchronization. Despite the consistently observed structural and functional improvements as well as reductions in HF events and mortality in large multicenter randomized trials, 30% patients remain classified as nonresponders. Present evidences showed that QRS duration was the most effective parameter to predict responsivity of CRT in patients with severe HF. But some studies showed that QRS duration could be influenced by obesity and gender. Accordingly, the simple QRS interval width of body surface electrocardiograph should not be the most satisfactory parameter for screening patients suitable for CRT. Recent study showed that left ventricular electrical delay, as measured by the time from the onset of QRS to the LV electrogram peak (QLV), predicted CRT response. At long QLV intervals, atrioventricular optimization (AVO) can increase the likelihood of structural response to CRT. However, it is unclear whether it is suitable for Chinese patients. The investigators would like to validate this relation in a Chinese population and explore if a corrected QLV might do better to predict the responsivity of CRT.

This is an exploratory registry that will include subjects who have been randomized to receive JVS-100 treatment (at one of multiple doses) or placebo by one of a number of delivery systems (e.g. endomyocardial injection, retrograde infusion) in a previous Juventas clinical trial.

The relationship between the activation of the vasopressin system and central hemodynamics in heart failure (including right and left heart filling pressures and cardiac output) is not clear. The investigators intend to examine the correlation between levels of copeptin and vasopressin and the central hemodynamic system in patients with advanced (class III or IV) heart failure. The investigators also aim to examine the relationship of selected cardiac biomarkers in blood and urine with cardiac filling pressures and cardiac output in patients with decompensated heart failure. The study population will consist of 30 patients admitted to the Department of Cardiology at Copenhagen University Hospital. Only patients for whom the attending cardiologist has already decided upon right heart catheterization for clinical/treatment reasons will be recruited for the study.

To compare two methods of chest impedance: the Medtronics Optivol Measurement via CRT pacemakers for patients with heart failure and external non-invasive measurement

The investigators would evaluate the effects of the novel method, HTEA on cardiac function in the heart failure patients secondary to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and post-myocardial infarction.

Cardiac rehabilitation is the ideal comprehensive intervention for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), since it addresses the complex interplay of medical, psychological and behavioural factors facing these individuals. Structured exercise training within a cardiac rehabilitation programme is firmly recommended for these patients. However, it is questionable whether patients are achieving an adequate dose of exercise to provide optimal benefits. The essential components for setting optimal training include the appropriate mode, duration, frequency and intensity of exercise. UK surveys of cardiac rehabilitation describe the frequency and duration of training, but here is scant information on exercise intensity. However, it is apparent that randomised controlled trials of exercise training use doses more than 4 times greater than in UK current practice. The Eastbourne Exercise Cardiology Research Group has demonstrated that although patients benefit from improved quality of life and submaximal fitness after a hospital outpatient cardiac rehabilitation programme, they do not achieve the increases in important prognostic indicators reported by the majority of exercise training trials. The critical factor in terms of eliciting a sufficient training effect while minimising risk is the intensity of the exercise performed. It is now widely accepted that the traditional methods of using fixed percentages of maximal heart rate or oxygen uptake to set exercise intensity include serious errors. The European Society of Cardiology recommends that cardiopulmonary exercise testing should be used to provide an objective evaluation of the metabolic demand of exercise. This allows physiologically meaningful reference points to be established for aerobic exercise prescription and is the solution to defining safe and effective training intensities. The next step is to determine whether this information can be transferred to a practical cardiac rehabilitation environment to set and monitor exercise intensity

Clinical research, like all science, is self-correcting, with errors detected by the scientific community and communicated to the publishing journals, which then relay the information (and its resolution) to its readers. If this relaying process fails, science grinds to a halt. In this study we are testing its integrity.

This is a randomized controlled trial of a CPR video decision aid in patients with advanced congestive heart failure (CHF).

Systemic sclerosis is an orphan, multiorgan disease affecting the connective tissue of the skin and all internal organs. Cardiac involvement, mainly characterised by small intramyocardial coronary artery involvement and myocardial fibrosis, can cause the development of impaired diastolic ventricular filling, cardiac blocks and ventricular arrhythmias, and can ensue in congestive heart failure and sudden death. Until now, no drug has been proven to have a therapeutic effect on SSc myocardial disease on an evidence-based level. Short-term trials and retrospective studies have suggested a favourable and protective effect of calcium channel blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in patients with myocardial involvement. However, no data are presently available on the prevention and treatment of severe heart disease. This observational trial is part of the collaborative project "DeSScipher", one out of five observational trials to decipher the optimal management of systemic sclerosis. Aim of this observational trial is to assess the efficacy and safety of calcium channel blockers and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in asymptomatic SSc patients with cardiac involvement.

Sympathetic hyperactivity is a causal or a promoting factor in many diseases, under these conditions, some morphology changes due to the hyperactivity occur. Renal nerve is an important part in the autonomic nervous system regulation, especially in cardiovascular system, the modulation of the renal nerves used as a therapeutic strategy has been researched across the world. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and quantify the morphology changes in different diseases, make the modulation therapy more selective and effective.