Abbott has initiated the landmark GUIDE-HF clinical trial using the CardioMEMS HF system. The GUIDE-HF trial will study whether the CardioMEMS device can improve survival and quality of life for people living with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class II–IV heart failure.
A press release reports that system has already been proven, when managed by a physician, to significantly reduce heart failure hospital admissions and improve the quality of life for people living with NYHA Class III heart failure.
The prospective trial will enrol 3,600 patients at 140 hospitals across North America with stage C, NYHA Class II-IV heart failure with either elevated brain-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels or prior heart failure hospitalisations in the past 12 months.
First implants for the trial occurred recently at:
- Providence Hospital, Southfield, USA, by Marcel Zughaib, and Herman Kado
- Sanford Medical Center, Sioux Falls, USA, by Orvar Jonsson
- Austin Heart, Austin, USA, by Kunjan Bhatt
The GUIDE-HF trial is designed to build on the clinical experience gained from the CHAMPION trial and aims to provide additional clinical evidence to further expand coverage for this first-of-its-kind technology. The CardioMEMS HF System features a small pressure-sensing device—no larger than the size of a small paperclip—that is implanted through a minimally invasive procedure directly into the patient’s pulmonary artery. While at home, patients lay on a special pillow to wirelessly take a pressure reading. Data from the sensor is collected through radio frequency to the pillow’s antenna and then is sent wirelessly to the patient’s doctor. This information can then be used by physicians to proactively adjust medications and treatment plans, if needed.
JoAnn Lindenfeld, primary investigator for the GUIDE-HF trial and director of advanced heart failure at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, says: “Monitoring pulmonary artery pressure with Abbott’s CardioMEMS device has already been shown to offer improvements in patient care. We now want to build a stronger body of clinical evidence, with GUIDE-HF, that establishes its role in improving patient survival.”
Philip B Adamson, divisional vice president and medical director of Abbott’s Heart Failure business says: “Data suggest that proactively managing people living with heart failure may change the course of the disease’s progression. The CardioMEMS HF system is the first-of-its-kind approach to redefine heart failure management. The GUIDE-HF study sets out to make this technology available to an expanded group of people who could benefit from it.”
