Clinical Research Directory

STEPwise De-escalation and Optimizing Withdrawal of ARNI and SGLT2i in Normalized Heart Failure

This is a multicenter, randomized, open-label pilot study to evaluate whether stepwise withdrawal of two heart failure medications-angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI) and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT2i)-is safe in patients with Heart Failure with improved Ejection Fraction (HFimpEF) whose underlying structural cause (valvular heart disease or ischemic cardiomyopathy) has been completely corrected by surgery or intervention. Eighty adult patients (40 per arm) whose left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) has recovered to 50% or higher and whose NT-proBNP is ≤ 250 ng/L will be randomized 1:1 to either (1) stepwise withdrawal of ARNI followed by SGLT2i over one month under close echocardiographic monitoring, or (2) continuation of their current guideline-directed medical therapy. The primary outcome is the change in LVEF at 12 months, with non-inferiority of the withdrawal strategy declared if the LVEF decline is within 5 percentage points of the continuation arm. Secondary outcomes include cardiovascular death, heart failure hospitalization, NT-proBNP, quality of life (KCCQ-12), 6-minute walk distance, and adverse events. Results from this pilot will inform the design and sample size of a subsequent definitive non-inferiority trial and may provide initial evidence to guide deprescribing decisions in clinical practice.

Federated Learning for Point-of-Care Cardiac Ultrasound

This prospective, multicenter study will evaluate a federated machine-learning system designed to analyze focused cardiac point-of-care ultrasound examinations. Federated learning allows participating clinical sites to contribute to model development while keeping raw ultrasound images and directly identifiable patient information within each site's controlled computing environment. Encrypted model updates, rather than patient images, will be transmitted for secure aggregation. The prospective validation cohort will include approximately 3,000 adults undergoing clinically indicated focused cardiac ultrasound. Model performance will be compared with an expert interpretation of a comprehensive transthoracic echocardiogram performed within 24 hours. The primary objective is to determine how accurately the model identifies reduced left ventricular systolic function, defined as a left ventricular ejection fraction below 40%. During the initial validation period, the investigational software will operate in silent mode. Its results will not be displayed to treating clinicians and will not be used to diagnose participants, select treatment, or replace standard clinical interpretation. The study will also evaluate image-quality classification, cardiac-view recognition, performance across clinical sites and ultrasound systems, model calibration, processing time, cybersecurity, privacy resilience, and performance across demographic and clinical subgroups. Long-term monitoring will assess whether model performance changes as clinical populations, ultrasound equipment, acquisition practices, and software environments evolve during the 2026-2037 study period.

A Study to Test the Effects of Riociguat in Patients With Pulmonary Hypertension Associated With Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction

The aim of this study is to assess whether increasing oral doses of Riociguat are safe and improve the well-being, symptoms and outcome in patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with left ventricular systolic dysfunction

Flecainide in Idiopathic Premature Ventricular Contractions and Related Cardiomyopathy

The UNIFLECA study is a prospective, single-arm, observational cohort evaluating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of flecainide (in the form of Sanocard) in adults with frequent idiopathic premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and suspected PVC-induced cardiomyopathy (PVCi-CMP). Frequent PVCs-defined as a burden \>5% on two separate 24-hour Holter recordings-are increasingly recognized as a cause of reversible systolic dysfunction in patients without structural heart disease. Participants undergo a comprehensive baseline evaluation including echocardiography, occasionally cardiac MRI, and coronary angiography or equivalent testing to confirm the absence of structural abnormalities. Patients are enrolled only if they are ineligible or unwilling to undergo catheter ablation, and have no contraindications to flecainide. Flecainide therapy is initiated at a starting dose of 100 mg/day and titrated up to 200 mg/day, guided by ECG findings, symptom response, and QRS duration. Regular follow-up occurs at three-month intervals over three years, with periodic 24-hour Holter monitoring and assessment of symptoms, LVEF, and adverse events. The primary outcome is the reduction in PVC burden. Secondary outcomes include improvement in LVEF, symptom relief (measured by structured questionnaires), adverse effects, and long-term treatment adherence. The study aims to generate real-world data on the non-invasive management of PVCs with flecainide and explore its role as an alternative to ablation in carefully selected patients.

ECG Low Ejection Fraction Detection and Guiding in AI Navigated Treatment Era

Asymptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ALVSD), identified as a key component of stage B heart failure (HF) by AHA/ACC guidelines, is a common precursor to clinically overt HF. This progressive chronic disease affects over 23 million people worldwide and leads to significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Although ALVSD presents a relatively lower risk compared to symptomatic reduced ejection fraction HF, it remains associated with a 1.6-fold increase in the risk of incident HF, a 2.13-fold increase in cardiovascular mortality, and a 1.46-fold increase in all-cause mortality. The prevalence of ALVSD ranges from 3% to 6%, at least twice that of symptomatic HF. To prevent progression to symptomatic heart failure and associated morbidities and mortalities, guideline-directed medical therapy, including ACEIs/ARBs or beta-blockers, is essential for patients with ALVSD. However, distinguishing individuals with ALVSD from the general population is challenging due to the lack of symptoms. Effective screening methods are crucial to identify individuals with ALVSD. Traditionally, diagnosing ALVSD involves screening asymptomatic populations using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), which is costly, time-consuming, and inconvenient for patients. Other screening methods, such as laboratory tests for brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N- terminal pro-atrial natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), have insufficient diagnostic performance. Previous research proposed an AI-based alarm system (AI-S) to screen patients for ALVSD, demonstrating greater accuracy than BNP screening and improved accessibility compared to widespread echocardiography. AI-S demonstrated a sensitivity of 92.6% (standard error \[SE\] 0.042) for detecting medium-risk ALVSD patients and 63% (SE 0.154) for high-risk ALVSD patients, with a specificity of 92.7% (SE 0.003) for medium-risk patients and 98.7% (SE 0.002) for high-risk patients. AI-S is accuracy, noninvasive, highly accessible in local medical clinics, less time-consuming, and cost-effective, making it a valuable screening tool for identifying ALVSD prior to echocardiography or other confirmatory diagnostic methods. To date, no randomized controlled trial has assessed the cost-effectiveness and impact of AI-assisted screening tools for heart failure prevention in Asians. The ECG AI-Guided Screening for Low Ejection Fraction (EAGLE) trial reported a 32% increase in diagnosing of low left ventricular ejection fraction (defined as LVEF ≤50%) within 90 days of the ECG. However, this population was not Asian, and randomization involved primary care teams rather than participants. Therefore, this randomized controlled trial is designed to evaluate the impact of AI-S on diagnosing low ejection fraction in Asians, its cost-effectiveness, and the incidence of worsening HF (defined as admission for HF or HF-related emergency department visits).

Prophylactic Frequent Premature Ventricular complexeS sUPPression on Left ventriculaR Function impairmEnt in aSymptomatic patientS

The main objective of the study is to demonstrate that prophylactic treatment of patients with asymptomatic frequent (\>10%) PVCs is superior to simple follow-up strategy with no therapy to prevent subsequent LV dysfunction at 24 months. The prophylactic treatment is based on drugs ± ablation (ablation can be performed if the PVC burden remain \>10% after 2 lines of AAD treatment since the initiation of the study). The primary endpoint will be the development of LV dysfunction (PVC-iCMP) defined as a 15% relative LVEF decrease (and/or a LVEF \<50%) within 2 years following randomization, on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) (or transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) when not possible).

BioVentrix Revivent TC™ System Clinical Study

A prospective, multi-center, dual-arm pivotal study of the BioVentrix Revivent TC System, with 2:1 study vs. active concurrent control group allocation ratio. This study will include 126 patients of which 84 patients will be treated with the investigational device and 42 patients will be included in an active control group.