Safety and Effectiveness of Intra-coronary Nitrite in Acute Myocardial Infarction — NITRITE-AMI  

Cardiovascular Diseases Clinical Trial

Official title: A Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial Assessing the Safety and Efficacy of Intracoronary Nitrite Infusion During Acute Myocardial Infarction

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Despite advances in the treatment of heart attacks the complications and death rates from failure of the heart to pump properly after treatment remain high. A heart attack occurs when one or more of the arteries that supply blood to the heart become blocked, causing the heart to be starved of oxygen and nutrients. This results in damage to the heart and so the the heart pumps less well. The main treatment for a heart attack is balloon treatment to open the blocked artery (called primary angioplasty). Whilst re-opening the artery is essential and allows blood to flow to the area of the heart starved of oxygen, this process also causes damage itself (called reperfusion injury) and increases the size of the heart attack further. Currently there are no treatments available that reduce this reperfusion injury. The investigators and others have shown that a substance called sodium nitrite reduces reperfusion injury in experimental models of a heart attack. The aim of this research is to perform a trial to investigate whether during a heart attack, an infusion of sodium nitrite into the damaged artery protects against reperfusion injury and reduces heart attack size in patients.

Clinical Trial Description

Coronary heart disease is still the commonest cause of death in the UK (in the main as a consequence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI)). Presently, timely and effective reperfusion with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) remains the most effective treatment strategy for limiting infarct size, preserving left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and improving the clinical outcomes in such patients. However, substantial mortality and morbidity rates still persist with respect to longer term outcome. One of the main determinants of prognosis after AMI is the size of the infarct. Thus, identification of additional strategies that might decrease infarct size is desirable.

Evidence from pre-clinical studies suggests that inorganic nitrite administration reduces infarct size in animal models of AMI. In this study we aim to translate these findings into man. We will test the hypothesis that in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI, an intra-coronary injection of nitrite, initiated prior to establishment of full reperfusion reduces infarct size through prevention of ischemia-reperfusion injury. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cardiovascular Diseases
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Infarction
• Ischemia
• Myocardial Infarction
• Myocardial Ischemia
• Reperfusion Injury

• NCT number: NCT01584453
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Barts & The London NHS Trust
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• Start date: April 2012
• Completion date: January 2016