The Current Focus of Heart Failure Clinical Trials

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Clinical Research
• Public Health

Background:

• Heart failure (HF) represents a significant global health burden.
• Interventional clinical trials are crucial for evaluating new HF therapies.
• Understanding current trial characteristics is essential for advancing HF care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze the key features of ongoing interventional clinical trials for heart failure.
• To provide insights into the landscape of HF research.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of interventional heart failure trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform as of January 1, 2017.
• Data extraction included trial endpoints, sponsorship, funding sources, and patient population characteristics (specifically left ventricular ejection fraction status).

Main Results:

• Nearly half of the 794 included HF trials focused on clinical end points, and over a third on imaging end points.
• Industry and university sponsorships were prominent, accounting for approximately one-fourth and one-third of trials, respectively.
• A significant disparity exists in research focus, with 81.0% of trials targeting HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) compared to only 19.0% for HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Conclusions:

• The majority of ongoing heart failure clinical trials receive funding from non-governmental sources.
• Despite similar prevalence in the community, HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is substantially underrepresented in clinical trial research compared to HFrEF.