Clinical Research Directory

Comparing PCCT With ICA and IVUS in Detecting Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy

In traditional coronary artery disease, patients often experience symptoms such as angina. However, heart transplant patients lack nerve connections in the transplanted heart and therefore usually do not notice any symptoms. For this reason, routine examinations are performed using traditional coronary angiography at one, three, and six years after transplantation, sometimes with the addition of coronary ultrasound. A new technique, photon-counting computed tomography, has now been developed and may potentially replace both traditional coronary angiography and intravascular ultrasound. In this study, we aim to investigate how well this method works in diagnosing coronary artery changes compared to the established methods.

Early Post Transplant Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy

Heart transplantation is an effective life-saving treatment for patients with end-stage heart disease. After a transplant, the new heart may develop narrowing in the arteries, causing heart failure, heart attacks and abnormal heart rhythms. This condition is known as cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV). The disease is very common, affecting almost a third of heart transplant patients by 5 years after transplant. CAV is a serious problem that causes the new heart to fail and is one of the main causes of death after transplant. Early detection of CAV is important as treatment options are poor once the disease is established. Currently, available techniques to evaluate CAV are limited by poor ability to detect disease early. The current tests usually focus on the large heart arteries and do not examine the smaller arteries that are also affected.

MARINER Trial: Multiparametric Cardiac PET for CAV Surveillance After Heart Transplantation

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a common complication affecting heart transplant patients. This condition causes narrowing of the heart arteries leading to graft dysfunction. Surveillance for CAV is vital; however an ideal approach has not been established. The goal of this study is to assess whether noninvasive positron emission tomography (PET) based surveillance is non-inferior to invasive coronary angiography (ICA) surveillance.

AERIAL Trial: Antiplatelet Therapy in Heart Transplantation

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy is a common complication affecting heart transplant patients. This condition causes narrowing of the heart arteries leading to graft dysfunction. The research team is investigating whether early antiplatelet therapy post heart transplant can prevent the development of CAV. This study will determine the feasibility of a large multicenter randomized placebo-controlled trial to answer this question.

Physiologic Assessment of Microvascular Function in Heart Transplant Patients

The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of early microvascular disease assessed by coronary physiologic indices such as fractional flow reserve (FFR), coronary flow reserve (CFR), index of microvascular resistance (IMR) on future occurrence of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) in heart transplant recipients.

Microvascular Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy Trial

The aim of the mCAV study is a comprehensive characterization of the genetic, morphological and functional phenotype of isolated microvascular graft vasculopathy (mCAV) after orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). The utilized methods include dynamic echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging, invasive microvascular resistance measurements, histology, cellular calcium-signaling and magnetocardiography as well as molecular genetic expression analysis (miRNA based).

Impact of SGLT2 Inhibitors in Heart Transplant Recipients

The goal of this clinical trial is to test if SGLT2 inhibitors could prevent or delay the development of Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy (CAV) post-heart transplantation (TxC). The main questions it aims to answer are: Primary outcome: CAV, according to ISHLT grading system diagnosed by CCTA; Secondary outcomes: cardiovascular death, all-cause mortality, hospitalization, worsening glomerular filtration rate, fasting glucose, weight, and blood pressure. Exploratory and safety outcomes: Rejection, hypoglycemia, urinary tract infection, hypovolemia, and limb amputation. HYPOTHESIS The null hypothesis is that SGLT2 inhibitors do not reduce the incidence of CAV in transplanted patients. The alternative hypothesis is that SGLT2 inhibitors reduce the incidence of CAV in transplanted patients.METHODOLOGY Study Design A randomized clinical trial of superiority with active control (2 arms), with central randomization and blinded evaluation of outcomes, to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adding dapagliflozin or empagliflozin 10 mg once daily to conventional post-TxC treatment compared with the treatment of isolated conventional post-TxC for 6-8 months. Study Sample Sample: All adult patients undergoing a heart transplant between January 2017 and December 2023 at Hospital de Messejana. Inclusion Criteria Included: Patients of both sexes, aged ≥ 18 years, who have undergone heart transplantation between January 2017 and December 2023 and are under the care of the Heart Transplant and Heart Failure Unit at Hospital de Messejana.