Take part in heart research
There are several ways to take part in heart research and it can be very rewarding. It gives you a chance to help others, as well as getting specialist care yourself for the duration of the trial. Many of our patients are sorry when a trial comes to and end, and frequently sign up to do another one if they fit the criteria!
Academic Projects
There are several ways you can take part in heart research. We currently have two research fellows working in our department, who have the opportunity to carry out their MD projects. Our current project is looking at how Covid-19 affects the heart. We are asking patients who have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19 and need a heart ultrasound scan (echocardiogram) to take part. The data from their scan and blood test results from their admission are analysed. They are then asked to attend for a second scan 6 months after they have gone home.
Want to take part in heart research in Harrow?
Our projects and trials are listed below. If you would like to volunteer for a trial or find out more information, please click on the ‘Find out how to volunteer’ button, You can also drop us an email or use the contact form on our Get in Touch page.
Ethical Approval
No research can take place in the hospital with out it going through a review process. To start a project you need approval from the National Research Ethics Service (NRES) and the Health Research Authority (HRA). You also need permission from the Research and Development Department in the NHS Trust. Medicine trials also need approval from the MHRA. Trials that use any radiation such as CT scans, x-rays or angiograms, also need special permission.
All our staff undertake Good Clinical Practice training to ensure that the research is carried to the highest standard. We always have the patient’s best interests at heart.
Many of our patients enjoy taking part in research and have taken part in several different projects over the years.
I would though, like to take this opportunity to praise the staff that I came into contact with during my involvement in the Cardiac Trials. During my time on the trials, I was treated with nothing but respect, kindness, care and good humour. I was always given the fullest of information before taking part, and then treated with the utmost care and consideration at all times.
DAPA-MI
We are really excited to be able to offer our patients the chance of taking part in this trial. Dapagliflozin is a medicine that belong to a group called SGLT2 inhibitors. It was first used in patients who had diabetes, but further research has shown it may help patients who are at risk of developing heart failure after a heart attack.This trial is being carried out in the UK and Sweden. If you agree to take part you will receive either dapagliflozin or a dummy tablet as well as your usual medicines. Neither you or your doctor will know what you are taking. You will be followed up by the specialist study team for the duration of the study, which will be around 2-3 years.
Horizon
This study is sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceuticals. It is looking at a new treatment for people who have a raised level of a particle found in the blood called lipoprotein (a). Raised levels of this particle is thought to increase your risk of hardening of the arteries. Having an increased level of this is genetic, rather than anything to do with your lifestyle.
People who already have heart disease are being asked to take part in this study. They will be eligible if a blood test shows that they have increased amounts of Lp(a). The study will last about 4 years and during that time you will regular be seen by the cardiologist and specialised research practitioner as part of your care.
Recruitment has now ended for this study and those taking part continue to be followed up. .
EVAREST
Patients who are attending the department for a stress echocardiogram are being asked if they would be interested in taking part in this trial. It involves giving consent to having your images and some data transferred to Oxford University. Here, they will be added to the existing database to help create artificial intelligence for interpreting the scans. You will also be called after 12 months to see if you have had any health problems during this time. There are no extra visits associated with taking part in this valuable research project.
SELECT TRIAL
Unfortunately, recruitment for this study is now closed, although patients who have agreed to take part in the trial continue to do so. We will continue to give support throughout the trial as to how to live a healthier life style and the follow up study visits will continue with Emma and Gabriel.
Care-HK HF
To take part in this study doesn’t involve taking any new tablets. We want to learn more about how people with heart failure are treated in real life. Treating heart failure often involves balancing the different medications, but some medications can affect the amount of potassium found in the blood. We want to learn about how this changes the treatment you are on.
Taking part in the study involves to completing a series of questionnaires every 6 months for 2-4 years. One of the study coordinators will telephone you about this, or it can be done by email if you prefer.
If you are a LNWH patient and are interested in this study, we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with us using the button below.
RUFUS – heart
We have now started recruiting into this exciting trial! This high frame rate project is being run with the department of biomedical engineering at Imperial College London. Eligible patients are those who have has a stress echocardiogram which was positive. As a result of this, they have been referred for an angiogram. The study lasts one day and you will have a series of scans to look at the heart. These will be both at normal ultrasound frequency and high ultrasound frequency. If this pilot study is successful, we will be looking to undertake a larger trial.
Covid – Echo
The final analysis is now being carried out on this data and we are really grateful for those that have taken part. We hope to have published the results soon, and when we have we will put the link here for those that are interested.
Hi Peitho
This study is looking at the best way to treat patients who are admitted to hospital with a blood clot in an artery that leads to the lung. When this happens the blood supply to the lung is blocked. We are seeing is treatment to dissolve this blood clot using a special device and ultrasound is better than just giving the treatment without the aid of ultrasound.
To take part, patients must fit certain criteria and of course be happy to do so. They will have been admitted to hospital with this condition and will be followed up by the study team once they have gone home. Patients take part in this study will be randomly allocated to which treatment they get. In this way we make sure the results are as accurate as possible and the study team can’t bias the results.
BioMICS
This study is looking at how a new catheter performs in patients who have fully blocked coronary arteries. For some people, even though the artery is completely blocked, we can see they may well benefit from it being opened.
Patients who are scheduled for this procedure will be contacted by the study team beforehand to see if they would be happy to take part.
EASYCARE
We are working with an Australian company who are developing an Artificial Intelligence tool to help interpret heart scans. We are very excited about this project, which is looking to show that using Artificial Intelligence can be as fast and as accurate as interpretation by an experienced clinician.
Patients who have already had a heart scan done will be asked permission to use their existing images in this research. They will not have to do anything other than give this permission. The images will be made completely anonymous.
Cardinal
This study is what we call a phase 2 study, which is when a few patients take part who are very closely monitored. we have been screening our records for suitable patients, and hope we will have our first volunteer in the new year.
This phase of study does mean coming to the hospital very regularly, but we make it as easy as possible by providing a taxi for your journey. If you have heart failure, are interested in research and have some spare time, why not in get touch?
Future studies
We have several studies in set up at the moment. Once is looking at atrial fibrillation, so those who have contacted me about questions regarding this and have said they are interested in research will get a call early next year.
Other studies are looking at patients with heart failure, so we will be looking for volunteers for this as well.