NHLBI SESAME (SEptal Scoring Along Midline Endocardium) Multi-Center Prospective Study Using Improvised Off-Label Devices

November 3, 2026 updated by: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

This is an early study of a catheter-based minimally invasive procedure called SESAME to slice thick heart muscle as described below.

Excessively-thick heart muscle can cause serious heart disease, especially heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, which causes shortness of breath and heart failure symptoms such as edema (swelling) and pulmonary congestion (lung water). Specific circumstances of excessively-thick heart muscle can block outflow of blood from the main heart pumping chamber (left ventricle).

We developed a catheter technique called SESAME (SEptal Scoring Along Midline Endocardium) to slice the excessively-thick heart muscle causing such problems. SESAME can be used in patients who have symptoms related to excessively-thick heart muscle in a part of the heart that restricts blood ejection from the heart; the problem is called "left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO)." One group of patients who might benefit from SESAME suffer from a common inherited heart muscle disease called "hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)." Patients with HCM and symptoms from LVOTO can be treated with medications, open heart surgery, or catheter-based destruction of heart muscle in "alcohol septal ablation." If these treatments fail or are not suitable, then SESAME may be an option, because it resembles surgery treatment without open heart surgery.

Other groups of patients that might benefit are those with heart valve diseases, of the mitral or of the aortic valve, or both, along with excessively-thick heart muscle. These patients may be poor candidates for standard surgical valve repair or replacement because of high risk of complications or death. Such patients might be eligible for non-surgical transcatheter mitral valve replacement, either standard or unapproved ("off-label") or research ("investigational"), but are poor candidates because of risk of LVOTO. Moreover, about half have LVOTO making heart valve symptoms worse. Treating the LVOTO alone may improve symptoms enough that heart valve treatment can be delayed or avoided.

This is a sponsor-investigator IDE study of SESAME performed at a small number of centers that have adopted the technique in the practice of medicine, in order better to characterize how well it works and whether it is safe.

Participating centers already perform SESAME in the practice of medicine using improvised, off-label devices. This protocol allows prospective oversight, standardized technique constraints, central imaging review, independent monitoring, and formal safety adjudication. In addition, the investigational protocol does not function as the gatekeeper for access to SESAME.

The investigators are not affiliated with the guidewire manufacturer and do not seek marketing approval or clearance for SESAME.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Cardiac septal reduction therapies - to relieve left ventricular outflow tract obstruction from transcatheter mitral valve replacement or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy - have inherent limitations including dependence on coronary anatomy, high pacemaker implantation rate, and surgical morbidity. We developed a novel transcatheter ventricular myotomy called SEptal Scoring Along the Midline Endocardium (SESAME) that relies on intramyocardial guidewire navigation and transcatheter electrosurgery. SESAME has been performed on hundreds of patients worldwide using improvised (off-label and bedside-modified commercially available) devices. Recent benchtop refinements in SESAME technique, using improvised devices, are predicted to reduce the likelihood of serious complications such as ventricular perforation, iatrogenic ventricular septal defect, and death.

This sponsor-investigator IDE study systematically characterizes the safety and outcomes of SESAME at up to 10 enrolling sites. SESAME is performed as septal reduction therapy in a heterogeneous group of participants, including (1) symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with resting or provoked left ventricular outflow obstruction (LVOTO); and (2) severe symptomatic mitral valve disease at high risk of standard heart surgical therapy and requiring later transcatheter mitral valve implantation combined with manifest or potential LVOTO. This study attempts to capture generalizable knowledge from as many patients as possible who undergo SESAME, and to add a limited number of research procedures to characterize the safety and provisional effectiveness of SESAME.

Participating centers already perform SESAME in the practice of medicine using improvised, off-label devices. This protocol allows prospective oversight, standardized technique constraints, central imaging review, independent monitoring, and formal safety adjudication. In addition, the investigational protocol does not function as the gatekeeper for access to SESAME.

The investigators are not affiliated with the guidewire manufacturer and do not seek marketing approval or clearance for SESAME.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
200

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • District of Columbia
      • Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States, 20010
        • MedStar Washington Hospital Center
        • Contact:
          • Toby Rogers, M.D.
          • Phone Number: 202-877-5975
    • Georgia
      • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
        • Emory University Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Vasilis Babaliaros, M.D.
          • Phone Number: 678-557-4514
        • Contact:
    • Massachusetts
      • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
        • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
        • Contact:
          • James McCabe, M.D.
          • Phone Number: 617-667-8800
    • New York
      • Roslyn, New York, United States, 11576
        • St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center
        • Contact:
          • Jaffar M Khan, M.D.
          • Phone Number: 516-390-9640
      • The Bronx, New York, United States, 10461
        • Montefiore Medical Center: Einstein Campus
        • Contact:
          • Mohamed Azeem Latib, M.D.
          • Phone Number: 718-920-4212
    • Pennsylvania
      • York, Pennsylvania, United States, 17403
        • WellSpan York Hospital
        • Contact:
          • Christopher G Bruce, M.D.
          • Phone Number: 717-851-2441
    • Virginia
      • Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, 22908
        • Univ. of Virginia
        • Contact:
          • John Saxon, M.D.
          • Phone Number: 434-243-1000
      • Roanoke, Virginia, United States, 24014

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years to 100 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

  • INCLUSION CRITERIA

  • Adults age >= 21 years

  • Requires left ventricular septal reduction therapy for one of two indications

    1. Obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with symptomatic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (30mmHg peak while resting OR 50mmHg peak when provoked); OR
    2. Planned transcatheter mitral valve replacement is feasible but limited by risk for iatrogenic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, defined on contrast-enhanced CT as skirt-neo-LVOT <200^2

  • Planning to undergo SESAME transcatheter myotomy

  • Septal diastolic thickness on CT as measured by the NHLBI central laboratory before enrollment:

    • For obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, >=14mm;
    • For transcatheter heart valve replacement, >=12mm

and

  • Intended minimum diastolic residual septal thickness >=6mm

    -Severely symptomatic, any of

  • NYHA Class III or greater

  • Canadian Angina Class CCS III or greater

    • Explicitly chooses investigational SESAME over conventional treatment approaches including

      1. cardiac myosin inhibitor therapy, if eligible (obstructive HCM only);
      2. transcoronary alcohol septal ablation, if eligible; or
      3. surgical left ventricular myotomy and/or myectomy, if eligible

    • Concurrence of the multidisciplinary institutional heart team that the candidate is at high risk for surgical myectomy and that SESAME is an appropriate septal reduction strategy for this candidate.

    • Willing to return for all scheduled follow-up activities, and eligible or able to undergo required protocol and testing

EXCLUSION CRITERIA

  • Does not consent to participate, or unable to consent to participate
  • Pregnant
  • Hemodynamic instability or emergency procedure
  • Mechanical aortic valve
  • eGFR < 30 mL/min/1.73m^2

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: SESAME Arm

The intervention is the SESAME procedure.
Device: SESAME Procedure

The intervention is the SESAME procedure, a catheter-based septal myotomy performed in adults with symptomatic or high-risk LVOT obstruction. It uses off-label Astato XS 20/40 guidewires and the NHLBI LCI electrosurgery timing appliance to create a controlled longitudinal laceration through the hypertrophied interventricular septum under fluoroscopic and echocardiographic guidance, with energy delivery limited to short pulses and cooling intervals to reduce thermal injury; all participants receive the same procedure, with follow-up assessments afterward.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
SESAME Technical Success
Time Frame: Completion of SESAME procedure

The primary outcome is technical success, defined as the participant being alive and having a successful SESAME laceration, with post-procedure CT showing that the achieved minimum residual septal thickness matches the planned thickness within 20%.
Completion of SESAME procedure
SESAME Safety
Time Frame: 30 days after SESAME procedure

The primary safety endpoint is freedom at 30 days from all-cause mortality, any stroke (disabling or non-disabling), and major SESAME-related cardiac structural complications requiring intervention, such as iatrogenic ventricular septal defect, aortic or mitral regurgitation, tamponade, or new permanent pacemaker implantation.
30 days after SESAME procedure

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Robert J Lederman, M.D., National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 9, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 1, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
September 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 4, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 8, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 11, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 10002783
  • 002783-H

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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