5 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
No clinical trial that has examined the role of implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy in the prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) has provided outcome data for longer than a few years. The NHLBI sponsored and placebo-controlled Sudden Cardiac Death in heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT) conducted from 1997 to 2003 had the largest number of patients and the longest average follow-up at 45.5 months. This study changed the national reimbursement policy for ICD therapy and remains the reference point for all other ICD evaluations in patients with congestive heart failure from ischemic or non-ischemic systolic dysfunction. Despite the outcome, the role of ICD therapy in the management of patients with heart failure has been questioned because of four principal concerns: numbers needed to treat to save a life, lead integrity over time, the negative consequences of shock therapy, and the cost of therapy. The purpose of this trial is to track down the remaining patients for a one-time follow-up regarding key outcome data.
With the present study the investigators intend to identify the morphologic and electrophysiologic substrate markers of increased arrhythmic risk in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy undergoing implantation of a defibrillator for the primary prevention of sudden cardiac death. Moreover, the investigators also aim to identify if there is any electrophysiological substrate modification at the time of the first arrhythmic event in these patients. To this aim, the investigators will prospectively correlate electroanatomic mapping and cardiac magnetic resonance findings with arrhythmic events, in order to identify substrate markers of increased arrhythmic risk in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, who are therefore more likely to benefit from a defibrillator implantation. Furthermore, electroanatomic mapping will be repeated at the time of the first arrhythmic event and compared with that at baseline, in order to evaluate any electrophysiological substrate changes.
The primary objective is to understand the role of antitachycardia pacing (ATP) in primary prevention patients indicated for implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy and programmed according to current guidance of higher rate cut-offs and therapy delays. The time to first all-cause shock will be tested in subjects with standard therapy (ATP and shocks) compared to subjects programmed to shock only to assess equivalency.
The purpose of this study is to test specific device programming in patients without a previous history of a life-threatening, abnormally fast heartbeat who are implanted with a Medtronic ICD (Implantable Cardioconverter Defibrillator) or ICD with CRT (Cardiac Resynchronozation Therapy) device. The information learned from this study could be used to guide physicians in future ICD or CRT device programming.
The purpose of this study is to test the acceptability and feasibility of a "toolkit" of patient decision aids (PtDAs) for heart failure patients who are considering an ICD implant.