Active clinical trials for "Myocardial Reperfusion Injury"

Routine primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for a heart attack involves opening a blocked artery with a balloon then inserting a metal scaffold (stent) to hold the artery open. During this procedure inflammation can occur causing further damage to the heart. The objective of this trial is to determine whether administration of the drug ciclosporin prior to PPCI reduces the amount of damage to the heart relative to treatment with placebo. The damage to the heart is assessed after 12 weeks by an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Patients are followed-up after 12 months participation in the study. This is a single centre study looking to recruit 68 patients.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment of patients suffering from ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with 1-2 liters of cold saline and central venous catheter cooling with Philips InnerCool RTx Endovascular System prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) result in a reduction in infarct size.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Glyceryl Trinitrate (GTN) reduces injury to the heart during heart-lung bypass surgery in combination with the newer technique of remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC).

Background: Experimental studies suggest that remote limb ischaemic postconditioning (RemPostCon) can reduce infarct size in pigs. Initial clinical applications support the beneficial role of RemPostCon in preserving endothelial function during upper limb ischemia in healthy volunteers and in patients with stable coronary artery disease. Aim of the study: To evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of RemPostCon in the setting of STEMI and primary PCI (pPCI) and to investigate potential circulating mediators of its effects. Patients and methods: Patients who undergo pPCI for anterior STEMI within 6 hours since the onset of symptoms are randomly assigned to receive either RemPostCon + pPCI or pPCI alone in a single-blind fashion. All patients receive therapy according to the current international guidelines. Three cycles of ischemia-reperfusion are provided to the lower limb inflating a cuff to 200 mmHg. Each cycle consists of 5' of ischaemia, followed by 5' of reperfusion. RemPostCon is started at the time of angioplasty in the infarct related artery. Primary endpoint is the area under the curve (AUC) of creatinine kinase - MB (CK - MB). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is performed early before discharge and 4 months after the event, if there are no contraindications.

Open-heart surgery causes injury of the heart muscle. Although this is usually mild, temporary and reversible, if it is severe it can endanger life and require additional high cost care. During surgery, techniques are used to protect the heart from injury, but these remain imperfect. This study assesses the effect of facilitating sugar metabolism (a more efficient fuel) by the heart muscle using the drug Perhexiline given before the operation. This treatment has a sound experimental basis for improving outcome. If this improvement is confirmed surgical results could be improved. The investigators will be studying heart function, heart muscle energy stores and chemicals which quantify the amount of heart muscle injury. The investigators' hypothesis is that Perhexiline will improve the protection of the heart by decreasing damage that may occur during heart surgery.

Inhaled sevoflurane during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) reduces postoperative Troponin levels and may be associated with improved outcome. A dose-response effect has been demonstrated by de Hert et al, with greatest reductions of Troponin when Sevoflurane was used during the entire operation, as compared to Sevoflurane during parts of the operation. Sevoflurane, as other inhaled anesthetic agents, is sedative in low doses. Postoperative sedation after CABG is currently achieved with intravenous propofol. A new simplified method of administration of isoflurane or sevoflurane has been developed and tested by members of the research group. The Anesthetic Conserving Device is a modified heat-moisture exchanger (HME) that permits direct infusion of sevoflurane to the airway, where it is vaporized in an evaporator rod in the device. The primary aim (and primary hypothesis)of the current trial is to examine if postoperative sedation with sevoflurane after CABG is associated with improved cardiac outcome, measured as reduced levels of Troponin, BNP and reduced incidence of cardiac events, such as atrial fibrillation, need for inotropic drugs and myocardial infarction, compared with conventional propofol sedation. Other end-points of the trial are potential renal (protective) effects measured with cystatin C levels, need for dialysis but also measurements of inorganic fluorides in serum, as well as environmental aspects of sevoflurane sedation in a Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit. Furthermore, potential differences in ICU memories and well-being during stay in the intensive Care Unit will be investigated via patient questionnaires. Besides routine blood sampling, plasma will be saved for later analysis of inflammatory mediators (biobank).

The use of volatile anesthetics in cardiac anesthesia is very common, because of their cardioprotective effects and their ability to ensure a sufficient depth of anesthesia. In line with the development of fast track concepts in cardiac anesthesia, volatile anesthetics are widely used to avoid a delayed recovery from cardiac surgery and anesthesia. Volatile anesthetics are delivered from calibrated vaporizers in the anesthesia machine or the cardiopulmonary bypass machine (during extracorporeal circulation). Isoflurane and Sevoflurane are the most commonly used volatile anesthetics in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The vaporizer of the anesthetics is on the cardiopulmonary bypass machine and the volatile agent is blended with air and oxygen. Until now, the pharmacokinetics of halothane, enflurane, isoflurane and desflurane during CPB have been described. Sevoflurane might be of advantage because of additional myocardial protective effects during cardiac anesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass. However, the pharmacokinetics of sevoflurane during CPB have not been investigated so far, although its being used at many hospitals. The investigators will conduct a randomized prospective study with either sevoflurane or isoflurane during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. The study will help to answer the questions about the possible cardioprotective effects of the widely used volatile anesthetics and the hemodynamic stability during cardiopulmonary bypass. Knowing the pharmacokinetics of these drugs allows the anesthesiologist to titrate the volatile anesthetics more precise. The investigators hypothesizes that the maximal postoperative increase in troponin T will be smaller in the sevoflurane group than in the isoflurane group. The investigators hypothesizes that the total amount of noradrenaline needed during the entire period of cardiopulmonary bypass will be smaller in the sevoflurane group than in the isoflurane group. The investigators hypothesizes that kinetics of washin and washout at the CPB will be faster in the sevoflurane group than in the isoflurane group. The investigators hypothesizes that the time to extubation, respectively the length of stay in intensive care unit and hospital is shorter in the sevoflurane group than in the isoflurane group.

The aim of this study is to characterize the protective pattern of intermittent hypoxia, angina pectoris and remote ischemic conditioning, in reperfusion injury by determining and monitoring the plasma immunometabolic parameters of patients with STEMI. This could contribute to better understanding of this phenotypic pattern with translation into clinical practice.

The POST-conditioning during coronary angioplasty in Acute Myocardial Infarction (POST-AMI) trial will evaluate the usefulness of postconditioning in limiting infarct size and microvascular damage during the early and late phases after AMI.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute coronary syndromes frequently fails to restore myocardial perfusion despite establishing epicardial vessel patency. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor and its expression is increased in atherosclerotic coronary arteries. Our hypothesis is that increased activity of the endogenous endothelin system contributes to microvascular dysfunction, and adjunctive therapy with an endothelin receptor antagonist will result in improved microvascular blood flow. Aims: The aims of the study are to assess in patients with non ST-elevation myocardial infarction, whether: 1) PCI causes an increase in coronary blood ET-1 level; 2) an endothelin receptor antagonist acutely improves coronary microvascular blood flow following PCI. Non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) is one type of heart attack. It is defined as the development of heart muscle necrosis results from an acute interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart which is demonstrated by an elevation of cardiac markers Creatinine Kinase Isoenzyme Muscle/Brain Type (CK-MB) in the blood and the absence of ST-segment elevation in ECG (electrocardiography). ST-segment is a portion of ECG, its elevation indicates full thickness damage of heart muscle. Absence of ST-segment elevation in NSTEMI indicates partial thickness damage of heart muscle occurs. Therefore, NSTEMI is less severe type of heart attack compared to STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction) in which full thickness damage of heart muscle occurs.