Active clinical trials for "Death, Sudden, Cardiac"

Sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmia is the leading cause of death in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients treated with hemodialysis (HD). As it is anticipated that the number of individuals with ESRD will exceed 1.2 million in the next 20 years, sudden death in this population has enormous public health impact. Research has shown that arrhythmic events are temporally associated with longer periods between HD with a three-fold risk of events in the 12 hours preceding the longest inter-dialysis interval. The exact cause of these findings is unknown.

Adult myotonic muscular dystrophy (Steinert's disease) is the most common inherited neuromuscular disorder. Cardiac rhythm disturbances occur frequently in this disease state and may be responsible for up to one-third of deaths. In this study, we intend to evaluate the utility of non-invasive electrocardiographic screening methods and history in predicting serious arrhythmic events.

The purpose of this retrospective observational study is to obtain information to confirm or contradict the results of prior studies on domperidone and sudden cardiac death. The population studied are the Saskatchewan residents who used domperidone or another type of medication known as a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) between 1990 and 2005. Information will be collected from various sources including the Saskatchewan Health (SH) database and Cancer Registry.

The investigators will examine whether an educational video increases patient knowledge about heart failure and the risk of sudden cardiac arrest and leads to greater satisfaction with information provided as compared to usual care. Additionally, the investigators will look at whether racial concordance (physician and patient being of the same race) improves satisfaction with the patient's treatment decision and disease knowledge. Our hypothesis is that a video in which participants are of the same race as the patient will provide better education and more satisfaction with the treatment decision and may lead to more patients choosing ICD therapy.

The purpose of the Improve SCA Bridge study is to characterize the care pathway flow of post-acute myocardial infarction (MI) patients as a result of standard assessments of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in the acute phase (≤14 days post- acute MI) and chronic phase (≥40-90 days post-acute MI).

The prospective EUTrigTreat multi-center study is an observational, advanced diagnostics and genetic risk stratification trial in patients with standard indications for ICD treatment, with and without myocardial infarction in their history. Its aims are fourfold: 1) To accurately risk stratify a large cohort of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) patients for ICD shock risk and mortality using traditional risk markers as well as genetic markers 2) To find a link between repolarization biomarkers and genetic markers of calcium metabolism. 3) To compare invasive and noninvasive electrophysiologic (EP) testing systematically 4) To assess temporal changes of typical noninvasive risk stratifiers and their prognostic implication. In five European academic clinical centers, 700 ICD patients are prospectively enrolled (optionally the number of enrolled patients may be expanded to 1000 patients). Comprehensive non-invasive risk stratifying ECG diagnostics including beat-to-beat variability of repolarization (BVR) are applied, and candidate genes associated with malignant arrhythmias are analyzed. Programmed electrical stimulation is performed to test for inducibility of malignant ventricular arrhythmias and BVR. In a subset of patients, electrophysiologic studies include recording of monophasic action potentials (MAP) from the right ventricle for assessment of restitution properties. Non-invasive risk stratifying ECG methods are repeated annually. Outcome (mortality, ICD shocks) will be assessed until September 2014.

Hemodynamic monitoring in hospitalized patients is crucial since in clinical practice unexpected deterioration of cardiovascular function remains a serious problem and an important cause of death. Novel perspectives in reflex testing of the autonomic nervous system might be useful to protect some patients from cardiovascular events by detecting cardiovascular deteriorations. In addition, standard pulse oximetry in low acuity settings is nowadays predominately used to monitor peripheral oxygen saturation. Of note, there is evidence that additional analyses of pulse wave characteristics might be a valuable source of information to generate additional insights into the cardiorespiratory status of the patient. Herein, we aim to develop novel algorithms in order to protect in-hospital patients from cardiovascular events in consequence of hemodynamic instability in the future.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a heart disease characterized by hypertrophy of the left ventricular myocardium and is most often caused by mutations in sarcomere genes. The structural and functional abnormalities cannot be explained by flow-limiting coronary artery disease or loading conditions. The disease affects at least 0,2% of the population worldwide and is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young people and competitive athletes due to fatal ventricular arrhythmia, but in most patients, however, HCM has a benign course. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to properly evaluate patients and identify those who would benefit from a cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implantation.

Prophylactic implant of an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) for prevention of sudden cardiac death from a life-threatening heart rhythm abnormality is a standard recommendation for patients with ejection fractions (EFs) of 35% or less. The main purpose of the trial is to determine why patients who are receiving care at a community-based cardiology program and are known to have a low ejection fraction (EF) measurement of 35% or less per echocardiogram and/or cardiac nuclear scan testing are not being approached for ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) implant. Additionally, other secondary purposes of the trial are: 1) to determine if these patients are or are not receiving recommendation from their provider to undergo prophylactic ICD implant 2) identify the reasons providers are not recommending ICD implant for their patients with reduced EFs 3) determine reasons patients recommended for ICD implant by their provider elect not to have the implant.

The purpose of this study is to characterize the chronic performance of the St. Jude Medical SJ4 connector and RV high voltage SJ4 leads.