
Safety and Efficacy of RESTEN-MP When Used in Conjunction With a Bare Metal Stent in Coronary Arteries...
Coronary Artery DiseaseCoronary RestenosisThe process of re-narrowing of a coronary artery following a revascularization procedure such as angioplasty, begins at the time of the procedure. Restenosis has long been considered a major problem for effective long-term interventional success. This often results in repeated procedures to deal with recurrent stenosis (or restenosis) of the original targeted vessel. There is a substantial body of literature suggesting that local MYC protein production in the injured coronary artery is a major stimulus and potential cause of restenosis that appears after stent placement. This study is based upon the hypothesis that stopping MYC protein production in the vessel will help reduce restenosis (vessel re-narrowing). AVI BioPharma Inc., has utilized its proprietary antisense chemistry to design a drug that interferes with MYC production. This study will evaluate the safety and potential effectiveness of RESTEN-MP to reduce in-stent restenosis following balloon angioplasty and stent placement. The post-dose follow-up period is up to six-months. RESTEN-MP is administered at the time a stent is successfully placed in a coronary artery, and again 24 hours later, via slow-push intravenous administration.

EWISE: Study of Eplerenone in Women With Chest Pain, Coronary Vascular Dysfunction and Evidence...
Ischemic Heart DiseaseSome women have chest pain even without having a blockage in one of the major blood vessels that supplies blood to the heart. In many of these women the microscopic (small) blood vessels in the heart do not function normally. This study seeks to determine if treatment with eplerenone, a commercially available diuretic, can improve the function of these microscopic blood vessels and, possibly, improve the chest pain.

Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing Coronary Bypass Grafting With or Without Cardiopulmonary Bypass...
Ischemic Heart DiseaseCoronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a well established treatment modality for patients with coronary artery disease. For 30 years now CABG operations have been performed with the help of the heart lung machine (Cardiopulmonary bypass). However, the heart lung machine is believed to be responsible for many of the side effects and complications seen in patients following CABG surgery. The organs most commonly affected are the brain, blood constituents, lungs and kidneys. In the last few years, stabilising devices have been developed that allow CABG operations to be performed safely without the use of the heart lung machine. Our hypothesis was that CABG done without the heart lung machine may be better tolerated by patients resulting in lower morbidity, increased functional outcome and shorter hospital length of stay. Enrolment into the trial was from 1998 to 2003 and included 300 patients. The last patient was enrolled in June of 2003. The initial results from the study suggest that excellent results can be obtained with both techniques and contrary to others no advantages could be demonstrated in in-hospital outcomes of patients performed without cardiopulmonary bypass (Legare et al. Circulation 2005).

FOCUS:Focus On Coronary Unstable Syndromes
Myocardial IschemiaStudy objectives: To demonstrate that the acute administration of ramipril will control the inflammation process in patients with high-risk Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) as assessed by the high sensitivity C-reactive protein blood levels. To demonstrate that the normalization of blood glucose levels with intravenous insulin will improve the inflammation process during the acute phase of an ACS as assessed by Tumor necrosis factor alpha blood levels.

Efficacy and Safety of the ACAT Inhibitor CS-505 (Pactimibe) for Reducing the Progression of Coronary...
Coronary Heart DiseaseThe purpose of this study is to learn if CS-505 is safe and effective for slowing down or possibly reversing the buildup of tissue, cells and fatty deposits (plaque) in the blood vessels of the heart (coronary artery atherosclerosis).

EASEGO Study: Doubling of Atorvastatin/Simvastatin or INEGY in Patients With Hypercholesterolemia...
AtherosclerosisIn patients with coronary artery disease and a LDL-C level between 2.5 mmol/L and 5.0 mmol/L on a stable (> 4 weeks) statin starting dose (simvastatin 20 mg or atorvastatin 10 mg), investigate what the LCL-C lowering efficacy is of doubling the statin dose (to 40 mg simvastatin or 20 mg atorvastatin) versus a combination tablet of ezetimibe 10 mg plus simvastatin 20 mg once daily for 12 weeks. It is postulated that more patients reach their LDL-C treatment goal with the combination tablet compared to doubling the starting dose. Furthermore, the effect of both treatment regimens on other lipid parameters, safety and LDL-subfractions will be measured.

A Coronary IVUS Study to Compare Torcetrapib/Atorvastatin to Atorvastatin Alone in Subjects With...
Coronary DiseaseCoronary Arteriosclerosis1 moreThe Torcetrapib project was terminated on December 2, 2006 due to safety findings. To look at ultrasound images taken in the blood vessels of the heart and to look at various lipids in the blood of people with known coronary heart disease

A Cluster Randomized Trial to Assess the Impact of Opinion Leader Endorsed Evidence Summaries on...
Coronary DiseaseIschemic Heart Disease1 moreBACKGROUND: Although much has been written about the influence of local opinion leaders on clinical practice, there have been few controlled studies of their effect, and almost none have attempted to change prescribing in the community for chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure (CHF) or ischemic heart disease (IHD). These two conditions are common and there is very good evidence about how to best prevent morbidity and mortality - and very good evidence that quality of care is, in general, suboptimal. Practice audits have demonstrated that about half of eligible CHF patients are prescribed ACE inhibitors (and fewer still reaching appropriate target doses) and less than one-third of patients with established IHD are prescribed statins (with many fewer reaching recommended cholesterol targets). It is apparent that interventions to improve quality of prescribing are urgently needed. HYPOTHESIS: An intervention that consists of patient-specific one-page evidence summaries, generated and then endorsed by local opinion leaders, will be able to change prescribing practices of community-based primary care physicians. DESIGN: A single centre randomized controlled trial comparing an opinion leader intervention to usual care. Based on random allocation of all physicians in one large Canadian health region, patients with CHF or IHD (not receiving ACE inhibitors or statins, respectively) recruited from community pharmacies will be allocated to intervention or usual care. The primary outcome is improvement in prescription of proven efficacious therapies for CHF (ACE inhibitors) or IHD (statins) within 6 months of the intervention.

Intra-Individual Comparison of Sirolimus and Paclitaxel Coated Stent (FRE-RACE Study)
Coronary Artery DiseaseThe main objective of this study is to assess the safety and effectiveness of the Sirolimus eluting Cypher Select(TM) stent in reducing angiographic in-stent late loss in de novo native coronary lesions as compared to the TAXUS(TM) Paclitaxel-eluting stent in patients presenting with two or more coronary artery stenoses (prospective, randomized, intra-individual comparison).

Stem Cell Study for Patients With Heart Disease
Chest PainMyocardial Ischemia3 moreThe purpose of this study is to determine if cell therapy with your own cells (autologous cells) delivered with a catheter to regions of the heart with poor blood flow will be safe and if it will relieve your chest pain and/or your ability to exercise.