Vagus Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Heart Failure: The INOVATE-HF Trial.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is increasing in prevalence and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality despite advances in medical and device therapy. Autonomic imbalance, with excess sympathetic activation and decreased vagal tone, is an integral component of the pathophysiology of HF.

Objectives: The INOVATE-HF (Increase of Vagal Tone in Heart Failure) trial assessed the safety and efficacy of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) among patients with HF and a reduced ejection fraction.

First experience with a novel robotic remote catheter system: Amigo™ mapping trial.

Introduction: Amigo™ (Catheter Robotics, Inc., Mount Olive, NJ) remote catheter system (RCS) was designed to provide a simple and relatively inexpensive system for remote catheter manipulation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance and safety of Amigo in mapping the right side of the heart.

Subgroup analysis of a randomized controlled trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of cardiac contractility modulation in advanced heart failure.

Background: Cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) signals are nonexcitatory electrical signals delivered during the absolute refractory period intended to improve contraction. We previously tested the safety and efficacy of CCM in 428 NYHA functional class III/IV heart failure patients with EF ≤35% and narrow QRS randomized to optimal medical treatment (OMT) plus CCM (n = 215) versus OMT alone (n = 213) and found no significant effect on ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT), the study's primary end point. In the present analysis, we sought to identify if there was a subgroup of patients who showed a response to CCM.

Noninvasive measurement of cardiac performance in recovery from exercise in heart failure patients.

Objective: To examine the association between cardiac performance during recovery and the severity of heart failure, as determined by clinical and cardiopulmonary exercise test responses.

Methods: As part of a retrospective cohort study, 46 heart failure patients and 13 normal subjects underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing while cardiac output was measured using a noninvasive device. Cardiac output in recovery was expressed as the slope of a single exponential relationship between cardiac output and time; the recovery-time constant was assessed in relation to indices of cardiac function, along with clinical, functional, and cardiopulmonary exercise responses.

Wireless pulmonary artery haemodynamic monitoring in chronic heart failure: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Results of previous studies support the hypothesis that implantable haemodynamic monitoring systems might reduce rates of hospitalisation in patients with heart failure. We undertook a single-blind trial to assess this approach.

Methods: Patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III heart failure, irrespective of the left ventricular ejection fraction, and a previous hospital admission for heart failure were enrolled in 64 centres in the USA.