Active clinical trials for "Heart Failure"

This study aims to investigate N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) as a biomarker to rule out heart failure in patients with atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation and heart failure often co-exist. Heart failure is important to identify, as part of the medical treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation can be fatal if the patient has concomitant heart failure. Performing an echocardiography is considered "gold standard" for assessing cardiac function but echocardiography may not always be readily available during acute hospitalization. The cardiac biomarker NT-proBNP can be used to rule out acute heart failure in patients with sinus rhythm. However, atrial fibrillation affects levels of NT-proBNP in the blood and it is therefore unknown, how the biomarker performs in atrial fibrillation patients.

This study's main specific aims are; To develop robust acquisition and reconstruction methods specifically for the study of microvascular cardiac remodeling with MRI which will include very innovative quantitative perfusion methods, as well as fibrosis quantification, longitudinal strain, and phase contrast imaging for flow. Test the new methods for identifying the clinical task of characterizing HFpEF.

Evaluate lung ultrasound aspect according to diuretics dosage evolution in patients hospitalized for acute heart failure.

Advanced heart failure (when the heart pump fails) is associated with symptoms such as shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. Some of these symptoms are simply due to failure of the pump, however abnormal regulation of blood flow to the muscles of the body is also a potential mechanism. Left ventricular assist devices are mechanical pumps used to compensate for patients with failing hearts either as a bridge to heart transplant or as long term therapy. Whether or not these pumps improve muscle flow and whether this is a determinant in the improvement of symptoms is unknown. Understanding how skeletal muscle and heart perfusion is altered in heart failure patients before and after implantation of an LVAD could provide further insight into the beneficial effects of this therapy. Specific Aims: To evaluate skeletal muscle and heart perfusion studies before and after LVAD implantation To compare functional status with degree of skeletal muscle perfusion.

To determine whether, and if so, which gas exchange parameters measured on the Shape-HF Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing System predict 30 and 180 day re-hospitalization in subjects discharged from hospitalization for an episode of acute decompensated heart failure.

It is recognized that endothelial dysfunction is a major factor contributing to the atherogenic process. Abnormal function of the endothelium is detectable prior to obvious intimal lesions in patients with risk factors for atherosclerosis. Endothelial dysfunction is a systemic disorder and a key variable in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and its complications. Measurement of peripheral vasodilator response with fingertip peripheral arterial tonometry (PAT) technology (EndoPAT; Itamar Medical, Caesarea, Israel) is emerging as a useful method for assessing vascular function. EndoPAT may be a potential valid test increasing the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity for detection of subjects to chest pain unit (CPU) with chest pain but no obvious coronary artery disease (CAD). This is a relatively fast non-invasive bedside test, relatively low-cost and has no side effects. Therefore, the primary objective of the study is to test the hypothesis that abnormal endothelial function as assessed by EndoPAT testing will increase the prediction of the short (in-hospital) and long-term (1-year) outcome of patients presenting to the chest pain unit.

The association between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease (CVD) has mostly been examined using broad endpoints or cause-specific mortality. The purpose of our study is to compare the effect of alcohol consumption in the aetiology of a range of cardiovascular disease phenotypes.

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are common in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and their incidence increases with the number of drugs that the patients are prescribed for treatment of their condition. Data bases often detect DDIs that are of high clinical relevance. The investigators have performed this study in order to detect clinically significant DDIs and to diminish their occurrence by sending notification about DDIs to attending physician.

A decrease in the response of beta 1 adrenergic receptors to agonists (desensitization) is thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of diseases such as congestive heart failure. However, currently, there is no in vivo model that will enable us to measure desensitization of the hemodynamic responses to beta 1 adrenergic receptors in vivo. Our hypothesis is that constant 3 hours intravenous infusion of the selective beta1 adrenergic receptor agonist dobutamine will result in gradual decline in hemodynamic responses to dobutamine over time.

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.