View clinical trials related to Dilated Cardiomyopathy.
Filter by:The "EUropean Comparative Effectiveness Research to assess the use of primary prophylacTic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (EU-CERT-ICD)" is a modular research project to study the effectiveness of prophylactic ICDs in a prospective study, a retrospective registry, and meta-analyses of existing evidence on the subject.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether electrocardiogram, echocardiography, cardiac MRI, sera biomarkers can improve early detection of myocardial involvement and clinical outcome.
Detecting abnormalities in the left ventricular mechanical and hemodynamic response to the stress of exercise may offer early diagnostic indicators in patients suffering from valvular disease such as mitral regurgitation. Ultrasound-based imaging methods have been gaining importance in providing prognosis among those patients. However, decreased signal to noise ratio in the images and increased motion-related artifacts during exercise stress echocardiography have been reported, with a lack of reproducibility of results and a the limitation of its availability only in reference centers. In our laboratory, we are able to perform supine bicycle exercise MRI (1.5 T) using the Lode ergometer mounted on the far end of the patient table, previously described in healthy volunteers. The first aim of our study is to demonstrate the safety and the feasibility of our MRI protocol in selected patients with asymptomatic severe organic mitral regurgitation, to assess left ventricular volumes and function, and regurgitant volume in comparison to exercise cardiac echography. Besides, few recent studies sustain the relevance of novel markers of central aortic function (compliance, distensibility and pulse wave velocity) assessed by noninvasive MRI to explore vascular aging. In monogenic connective tissue diseases, altered arterial stiffness is the premature signature of the disease in asymptomatic patients. Noninvasive evaluation of aortic stiffness would be useful for risk assessment and preventive follow-up strategies in young asymptomatic relatives of subjects with aortic inherited diseases, such as syndromic and non-syndromic familial forms of thoracic aortic aneurysm and /or dissection. Furthermore, this technique should be able to evaluate the effect of drugs on aortic stiffness change in trials, before and after drug therapy, more relevant than the classic change in aortic diameter measurement. The second aim of our study is 1) to provide the sensibility of our MRI protocol to estimate local and regional heterogeneity in aortic functional parameters (distensibility, compliance and PWV) 2) to evaluate the predictive value of these regional aortic parameters assessed by MRI to diagnose and to stratify the aortopathy related to presymptomatic Marfan patients and to bicuspid aortic valve in young adults, in comparison to carotids-femoral pulse wave velocity estimation by applanation tonometry.
This will be a cross-sectional, observational study. Null hypothesis: There is no difference in the amount of extracellular volume (ECV or scarring) in the hearts of patients with heart failure as compared to control subjects. Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle has become too weak to work properly. It is associated with an increase in the amount of connective tissue (collagen) which replaces dead heart muscle cells (scarring). Currently a biopsy of the muscle is the only way to measure the amount of scarring. This is invasive and rarely done in children. Because of this, it is difficult to measure the amount of scarring in a particular patient or disease process, which is important for improving our understanding and treatment of the disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non-invasive imaging tool which is routinely used to look at areas of local scarring in heart muscle. Because the scarring is so widespread in paediatric patients, we have not been able to use this method previously. Now new imaging techniques allow us to look at widespread scarring but these have not yet been validated in children. We plan to use late gadolinium enhancement (T1 mapping) to measure the amount of scarring in patients with heart failure (we have evidence that their heart biopsies show increased amounts of scar tissue) and children having MRI scans for other reasons. We will use measures of function including echocardiography and 6 minute walk test to compare to the amount of scarring. This will help us to know whether the amount of scarring will be clinically useful. We will look at the amount of various proteins in the blood of patients and control subjects which are related to the scarring and cell death processes. We already use blood tests to monitor heart failure and these tests may help us to refine our testing and improve timing of treatment (e.g. transplantation). This study will help us to design further research in this field.
Despite pharmacologic advances for the treatment of congestive heart failure (HF), sudden cardiac death (SCD) and pump failure remain the leading causes of mortality in patients with HF. Although, SCD is poorly understood, implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICD) have been shown to be an effective, but costly therapy in preventing SCD. At present, left ventricular systolic dysfunction is our best independent predictor of SCD, but only moderately predicts those patients who will eventually benefit from the placement of an ICD and, in most cases, left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction is a non-modifiable risk factor once acquired. As a result, there exists an intensive search for biomarkers that could improve the prediction of SCD and have the potential for risk factor modification. Experimental and clinical evidence has established that inflammation plays a critical role in stable coronary disease, plaque rupture, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and SCD. Studies at our institution have demonstrated that elevated levels of hsCRP and Interleukin-6 are predictive of arrhythmic SCD; however, the mechanism of causing this increased risk is unclear. Another well-known risk factor for SCD is abnormal sympathetic innervation. The most robust clinical test of sympathetic innervation to date is Iodine-123 Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging with gamma scintigraphy. MIBG imaging has emerged as one of our strongest predictors of SCD by detecting sympathetic nervous system abnormalities in patients with HF. Preclinical and clinical evidence suggests that myocardial inflammation adversely affects myocardial innervation. Based on these findings, the investigators hypothesize that elevated levels of inflammatory biomarkers are associated with abnormal sympathetic innervation as measured by MIBG imaging. The investigators aim to establish the strength of this association. This proposal will leverage unique access to the largest, most extensively phenotyped cohort of patients who have undergone ICD implantation for primary prevention of SCD, the PRospective Observational Study of the ICD in SCD, (PROSE-ICD).
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a poorly understood cause of systolic heart failure and is the most common indication for heart transplantation worldwide. Despite advances in medical and device therapy, the 5-year mortality of patients with DCM remains high. Patients diagnosed of dilated cardiomyopathy with a NYHA functional class of II to IV and left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF) <35% were selected for randomized controlled study of the efficacy and safety of high dose Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) inhibitor (benazepril or valsartan), in comparison with low dose RAS inhibitor(benazepril or valsartan) and standard beta-adrenergic blocker therapy (metoprolol). The primary endpoint was all cause death or admission for heart failure. Additional prespecified outcomes included all-cause death, cardiovascular death, all-cause admission, heart failure admission. Secondary cardiovascular outcomes included the changes from baseline to the last available observation after treatment in NYHA functional class, quality-of-life scores, LVEF, LVEDD, mitral regurgitation and wall-motion score index assessed by ECG. Adverse events were reported during in-hospital observation and follow-ups.
The purpose of this study is to determine if resveratrol can improve heart function and quality of life. Although, population studies have revealed that a mild to moderate intake of red wine reduces cardiovascular disease risk in humans, clinical studies that evaluate the potential heart benefits of resveratrol in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy have not been previously reported. Accordingly, this research is being done because it will fill this deficiency in the information available in the literature and establish the clinical benefits of resveratrol in patients with this type of heart disease.
Cardiomyopathy is a disease of the heart muscle. It is rare, but it can be serious. Cardiomyopathy in children can result in death, disability, heart transplantation or serious heart rhythm disorders. Natural substances in the blood called cardiac biomarkers can be measured in the laboratory and could be a less invasive way (compared to echocardiograms or MRIs) to detect heart dysfunction in children with cardiomyopathy. Little is known about how useful and valid cardiac biomarkers are in the diagnosis and determination of the symptoms in children with cardiomyopathy. The long-term goal of this project is to study how helpful measuring cardiac biomarkers in children with cardiomyopathy is to their doctors in managing the care of these patients as well as improving their overall health. Measures of these cardiac biomarkers could help doctors in determining how best to care for a child with cardiomyopathy, including when to consider heart transplantation as a treatment option.
Cardiomyopathy in children is a serious disease which can result in death, disability, heart transplantation or serious heart rhythm disorders. Doctors know little about the causes of cardiomyopathy but would like to learn more. In fact, up to 50-75% of cases in children have no known cause. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to identify genes that cause cardiomyopathy or that influence how people with cardiomyopathy do over time. These findings could improve disease prevention, surveillance, early management, and prognosis.
The investigators will evaluate the determinants of cerebral impairment in patients with non-ischemic heart failure compared to controls, and its relation to cognitive function. They hypothesize that patients with heart failure have impaired brain perfusion and hemodynamic factors are associated with cognitive dysfunction.