Active clinical trials for "Myocardial Ischemia"

Coronary artery disease and the benefit of bypasses: Despite considerable advances in medicine, cardiovascular diseases remain the number one cause of death globally, primarily consequence of myocardial infarction (MI). Coronary collaterals exert a protective effect by providing an alternative source of blood flow to a myocardial territory potentially affected by an acute coronary occlusion. Coronary collaterals represent pre-existing inter-arterial anastomoses and as such are the natural counter-part of surgically created bypasses. Sufficient coronary collaterals have been shown to confer a significant benefit in terms of overall mortality and cardiovascular events. In this regard, the concept of augmenting coronary collateral function as an alternative treatment strategy to alter the course of CAD, as well as to control symptoms, is attractive. Durable promotion of coronary collateral circulation: Before the advent of coronary artery bypass grafting, permanent augmentation of coronary collateral supply by a single structural modification has already been attempted. Bilateral ligation of the internal mammary arteries (IMA) was performed in CAD patients to alleviate angina pectoris and electrocardiographic (ECG) signs of ischemia. The prevalent in vivo function of natural internal mammary arteries (IMA)-to-coronary artery bypasses and their anti-ischemic effect has been recently demonstrated by the investigators' research group. Levels of collateral function and myocardial ischemia were determined in a prospective, open-label clinical trial of permanent IMA device occlusion. In this study, coronary collateral function, has been shown to be augmented in the presence vs the absence of distal permanent ipsilateral IMA occlusion. These findings have been corroborated by the observed reduction in ischemia in the intracoronary ECG. After this first step, the concept of permanent right IMA occlusion will be now investigated with a randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial.

A before and after study involving 43 adult subjects at risk of having ischemic heart disease. Subjects underwent 6 months of supervised moderate intensity aerobic and resistive exercise training. Blood samples were obtained at entry and at 6 months for measurement of complement (C3), CRP, blood lipid levels, lymphocyte phenotypes, and for the isolation, culture, and measurement of the spontaneous and phytohemagglutinin-induced secretion of proatherogenic and antiatherogenic cytokines by their peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC).

Investigators evaluated the efficacy of a pilot-tested mHealth intervention to improving medication adherence and health outcomes among patients with coronary heart disease.

Perioperative myocardial injury (PMI) after non-cardiac surgery (NCS), i.e. the elevation of postoperative troponin, occurs in nearly 20% of patients older than 45 years undergoing NCS and is independently and strongly associated with post-operative mortality (30-day mortality up to 10%). With over 300 million surgical interventions every year worldwide, PMI has a high clinical relevance on the health of the population. Heart rate (HR) is an independent and modifiable risk factor for PMI and death after non-cardiac surgery. Numerous studies showed that beta-blockers decrease myocardial ischemia after surgery in a heart-rate dependent manner, but this beneficial effect is surpassed by an increased incidence of perioperative hypotension and death. Currently, no single intervention is available to decrease the risk of perioperative cardiac complications. Ivabradine (IVA) is a negative chronotropic agent without significant effects on contractility or vascular tone and has been shown to improve outcomes in the setting of chronic and acute heart diseases. Rationale for pilot feasibility trial: the planned definitive large trial is a multicenter trial to investigate the efficacy of ivabradine to decrease perioperative myocardial injury. The intervention planned is complex and demands important resources. The investigators designed this pilot study to inform on the feasibility of the definitive large trial. This pilot study will also provide additional information that could help investigators improve the definitive large trial regarding recruitment, refinements to the study protocol and improving the participant's experience.

The aim of this study is to explore the role of Canonical β-catenin/Wnt and forkhead box O (FOXO) pathways by means of investigating their target genes in coronary artery disease (CAD) pathogenesis and to examine the effects of resveratrol (RES) on these pathways in CAD patients.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in industrialized countries despite advances in medical, interventional, and surgical revascularization therapies. In both, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and chronic stable disease, standard therapeutic approaches may fail to restore tissue perfusion. Indeed, a substantial number of chronic CAD patients may not be amenable to standard revascularization therapies or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may fail to restore coronary artery patency following an acute vessel occlusion (no-reflow phenomenon, microvascular obstruction). As a consequence, the long pursued strategy of augmenting myocardial perfusion by diverting blood from the coronary venous system to an ischemic region (venous retroperfusion) has again gained attention during recent years. Occlusion of the coronary sinus (CSO) was introduced to provide retroperfusion by transient augmentation of coronary venous pressure. Different devices using CSO have been invented and evaluated in animal models and small clinical trials, e.g. intermittent CSO (ICSO) and pressure-controlled intermittent CSO (PICSO) which seem to be effective for myocardial salvage. However, they are not yet employed in clinical routine, and importantly, the exact underlying mechanisms by which retroperfusion due to CSO may reduce myocardial ischemia are not yet understood. As "natural bypasses", coronary collaterals are anastomoses without an intervening capillary bed between portions of the same coronary artery or between different coronary arteries that represent an alternative source of blood supply to a myocardial area jeopardized by ischemia. Collaterals of the heart can be assessed quantitatively by coronary pressure measurements, which have become the gold standard (collateral flow index, CFI=[Poccl-CVP]/[Pao-CVP]). Theoretically, augmentation of coronary sinus pressure by CSO with an increase of venous backflow reaches the upstream collateral circulation, which in turn could lead to improved collateral flow from non-ischemic area(s) to an occluded, ischemic myocardial region by upstream flow diversion. On the other hand, when considering the formula to calculate pressure-derived CFI, it seems that augmentation of coronary back pressure would rather impair collateral flow (since central venous pressure is coronary sinus pressure). However, the regional effect of a global increase in coronary sinus pressure is unlikely to be as uniform as the above formula implies, i.e., the response is more pronounced in some than in other vascular territories. In experimental studies using dogs (with abundant collaterals), elevation of coronary sinus pressure caused an augmentation of regional myocardial blood flow in the collateralized area. In contrast, when ICSO was performed in pigs (which possess no preformed collaterals), it increased the pressure distal of an occluded LAD but did not improve blood flow or left ventricular function. In conclusion, experimental studies and pathophysiologic considerations suggest a necessary role of the collateral circulation for the beneficial effects of coronary sinus occlusion (CSO) observed in animals and humans; however, no clinical data are available so far on the effect of CSO on myocardial ischemia in the presence of varying collateral flow. Study hypotheses CSO decreases intra-coronary ECG ST-segment elevation during a 2-minute coronary occlusion. The decrease in occlusive intra-coronary ECG ST elevation during CSO is directly proportional to CFI. Coronary sinus oxygen saturation during coronary occlusion with CSO is directly proportional to CFI.

This study will examine whether a twelve-week intervention with one ounce (28 g) per day of walnuts improves endothelial function measured non-invasively using finger probe (EndoPat-2000) in people with coronary heart disease or type 2 diabetes.

The purpose of this research study is to improve statin medication adherence among Veterans with coronary artery disease with poor adherence to medications. The investigators are testing if newer technology pill bottle devices linked with individual feedback and/or social incentive strategies can improve medication taking behavior.

Until now it has been assumed that regular endurance training has a positive influence on cardiac function and that the positive effect increases with increasing intensity. However, little is known about the effects of intense endurance stress on the heart. According to current knowledge repeated exposure to strenuous endurance activity may lead to minor but possibly irreversible damage to the heart with resultant scarring of the heart's muscle. Within this study we attempt to find out by different analytical methods - in particular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound of the heart - to what extent the heart muscle is affected by an intense endurance exercise, i.e. the "Jungfrau-Marathon", and which changes can possibly be found. Due to repeated measurements we will obtain further information on the short-term course of possible changes. Hypotheses: A single bout of prolonged strenuous exercise (PSE) leads to transient alteration in cardiac function accompanied by the appearance of biomarkers for myocardial damage.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate possible mechanisms of aspirin resistance at a molecular level in aspirin-treated patients with coronary artery disease. We hypothesize that certain patient characteristics associate with aspirin resistance. In addition, we will compare the effects of enteric-coated aspirin and chewable aspirin.