Atrial Fibrillation Clinical Trials

This study aims to identify genetic causes of adverse events after cardiac surgery, such as atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, renal dysfunction and heart failure. Patients undergoing heart surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Texas Heart Institute are eligible to participate. Read Less

This is a post-approval study to evaluate the clinical outcomes in a cohort of participants treated during commercial use of the HeartLight System to confirm results of the previously conducted pivotal clinical study. Read Less

In this pilot and feasibility study, the investigators will enroll patients with frequent symptomatic episodes of atrial fibrillation (AF) in a cross-over study testing two different classes of anti arrhythmic drugs (AADs). This pilot and feasibility study will provide preliminary data for a larger study in which the investigators will test the hypothesis that a common AF genetic risk allele modulates response to different AADs. Read Less

Heart failure (HF) with preserved left ventricular function (pEF) is difficult clinical syndrome to treat effectively with few evidence based therapies. Atrial fibrillation (AF) is now an important co-morbidity being observed in 43% of patients with HFpEF. Rhythm control has not been studied in this population. Catheter ablation and antiarrhythmic drugs are rhythm control therapies that have been used for treatment of AF without HF or HF with reduced systolic function but have not been widely applied in HFpEF. No controlled comparative evaluation has been performed in HFpEF. The introduction of wireless pulmonary artery hemodynamic monitoring has permitted optimization of HF therapy in patients with chronic HF with reduced and preserved EF. Reduction in HF hospitalizations has been observed in post hoc analyses of HFpEF patients but has not been systematically applied in AF patients with HFpEF. In this study, we propose to study both rhythm control and optimized HF therapeutic approaches in an AF with HFpEF study population in a pilot study using a sequential two phase randomized controlled clinical trial design. Read Less

In the US, patients receiving warfarin therapy are rarely allowed to engage in patient self-management (PSM) which is less burdensome, less expensive, and safer than standard clinic-directed warfarin management. The long-term objective of our application is to improve the safety of ambulatory warfarin therapy through increasing the implementation of PSM. Read Less

The study will investigate the effect of Dapagliflozin on atrial fibrillation (AF) burden. AF burden will be defined as the percent of time spent in AF over a 2-week period, assessed by noninvasive continuous heart rhythm monitoring at baseline and at 3 months, quality of life (QOL) and validated echocardiographic indices of atrial myopathy. This knowledge will enable us to study the therapeutic potential of SGLT2i as a novel adjunct treatment for patients with DM and AF. Patients with paroxysmal AF (AF that terminates spontaneously or with intervention within seven days of onset) and DM and randomize them to Dapagliflozin or placebo. Continuous heart rhythm monitoring patch for AF burden will be used, measure of QOL with the help of AF Effect on Quality-of-life survey and perform an echocardiogram with measurement of left atrial volume index, left atrial strain and atrial tissue dopplers. All measurements will be performed at baseline and at study completion. The central hypothesis is that SGLT2i will lead to reduced AF burden that will translate into improvement in QOL, and the underlying mechanism is improvement in atrial myopathy. Read Less

The Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion Registry (LAAO Registry™) is designed to assess the prevalence, demographics, management, and outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous and epicardial based left atrial appendage occlusion procedures to reduce the risk of stroke. Patient-level data will be submitted by participating hospitals on a quarterly basis to the American College of Cardiology Foundation's National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR). The primary aims of the LAAO Registry are to optimize the outcomes and management of patients through the implementation of evidence-based guideline recommendations in clinical practice, facilitate efforts to improve the quality and safety for patients undergoing percutaneous and epicardial based left atrial appendage procedures, investigate novel quality improvement methods and provide risk-adjusted assessment of patients for comparison with nationwide NCDR data. The secondary purpose of the LAAO Registry is to serve as a rich source of clinical data to support assessments of short- and long-term safety, comparative and cost effectiveness research, and as a scalable data infrastructure for post market studies. Read Less

The goal of this study is to understand the effects of early mobilization after a Z stitch procedure in patients undergoing certain heart-related treatments. The investigators want to find out if allowing patients to move around sooner after their procedure can improve their satisfaction and potentially lead to earlier discharge from the hospital. Type of Study: Clinical Trial Participant Population/Health Conditions: Patients aged 18-99 undergoing specific heart procedures such as atrial fibrillation treatment, atrial flutter treatment, supraventricular tachycardia treatment, diagnostic electrophysiology studies, AV node ablation, or Watchman device placement. Main Questions: Does early mobilization (getting up and moving around sooner) after the Z stitch procedure improve patient satisfaction? Participants will be divided into two groups, and researchers will compare those who have one hour of bedrest with those who have four hours of bedrest after the Z stitch procedure. The investigators want to see if the shorter bedrest period leads to higher patient satisfaction. Read Less

Patients undergoing FIRM guided ablation of atrial fibrillation will undergo high resolution MRI imaging to determine correlation of underlying anatomic fibrotic regions with FIRM targeted sites for ablation. Read Less

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia and the prevalence increase with age. Autonomic nervous system play a critical role in the initiation and maintenance of AF. The intrinsic cardiac autonomic nervous system includes ganglionated plexus (GP) modulate the level of parasympathetic activity to the heart. Experimental and clinical studies suggest that GP activation plays a significant role in clinical AF in both the initiation of and the maintenance of AF. Synaptic plasticity is defined as the ability of synapses to change their strength of transmission. Plasticity of synaptic connections in the brain is a major focus of neuroscience research, as it is the primary mechanism underpinning learning and memory. Beyond the brain however, plasticity in peripheral neurons is less well understood, particularly in the GP neurons innervating the heart. The ability of these neurons to alter parasympathetic activity suggests that plasticity may indeed occur at the synapses formed on and by GP neurons. Such changes may not only fine-tune autonomic innervation of the heart, but could also be a source of maladaptive plasticity during atrial fibrillation. Low level tragus stimulation (LLTS) has been shown to decrease AF burden among patients with paroxysmal AF. However, the exact mechanism remains unclear. The objective of this study is to examine changes in synaptic density of GP neurons in patients with paroxysmal AF and persistent AF compared to those without AF undergoing cardiac surgery. In addition, we aim to examine the effect of LLTS on the synaptic plasticity of the GP neurons. A group of patients undergoing open heart surgery will be randomized to active LLTS for 30 min (pulse width of 200 μs, amplitude of 20 mA and a pulse frequency of 20 Hz) or no stimulation. Biopsy from GP tissue will be taken immediately after stimulation and histological staining for choline acetyl transferase (ChAT), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and synaptophysin will be performed to examine synaptic plasticity. Understanding the effect of LLTS on GP SP will help to determine whether changes in synaptic plasticity can increase or decrease autonomic tone of the heart, and its role in generating the aberrant electrical impulses in the GP around the pulmonary veins that can trigger and drive AF. Read Less

Low level transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (LLTS) involves delivery of electrical impulses transcutaneously at the auricular branch of vagus nerve and it has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and anti-arrhythmic effects. In previous studies from our laboratory, we found that LLTS significantly suppressed atrial fibrillation (AF) inducibility and decreased AF duration. The anti-arrhythmic effects of LLTS were similar to those delivered to the cervical VN trunk. LLTS for just one hour significantly shortened the AF duration and decreased inflammatory cytokines. We have also shown that LLTS leads to favorable heart rate variability (HRV) changes and cardiac mechanics in patients with diastolic dysfunction. These results support the use of LLTS as a novel non-pharmacological, non-ablative treatment modality for AF and possibly other inflammatory conditions. However, the optimal stimulation parameters of LLTS remain to be determined. In this study, we aim to examine the effect of 2 different frequencies (5Hz and 20Hz) and 2 different amplitudes (50% below the pain threshold and 1mA below the pain threshold) of LLTS on heart rate variability with deep breathing (HRVdb), mental arithmetic stress test (MAST), frequency domain measures of heart rate variability (HRV) and brain stem evoked potentials (BSEVP) in healthy volunteers and patients with AF or heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). HRV is a marker of vagus nerve activity and can be easily measured by software calculating the distance between consecutive R waves on the ECG. BSEVP are a surrogate for the central projections of the vagus nerve. Patients will be randomized into 4 groups in a 2x2 factorial design. LLTS will be delivered through a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device for 15 minutes. HRVdb, HRV and BSEVP will be measured before and after LLTS and compared. Read Less

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Advanced cardiovascular imaging using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has proven to be effective in providing gold standard myocardial tissue characterization. Moreover, the intrinsic advantage of MRI's lack of exposure to ionizing radiation is particularly beneficial. At the same time, blood work can be very useful in early detection of certain cardiomyopathy, such as amyloid. However, there is a lack of agreement of on which markers are the most sensitive. This multi-study will allow us the unique opportunity to form a more comprehensive understanding for various cardiovascular diseases. Our team has developed novel cardiac MRI techniques that leverages endogenous tissue properties to reveal a milieu of deep tissue phenotypes including myocardial inflammation, fibrosis, metabolism, and microstructural defects. Among these phenotypes, myocardial microstructure has proven to be most sensitive to early myocardial tissue damage and is predictive of myocardial regeneration. In this study, the investigators aim to further study the importance of cardiac microstructure revealed by MRI in patient and healthy population and compare this novel technology with conventional clinical biomarkers. Read Less