Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT)

May 12, 2016 updated by: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
To compare conventional treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF) with two experimental interventions: amiodarone and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

Congestive heart failure is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, and sudden arrhythmic death is the cause of death in from 30 to 50 percent of those who die. The study addresses the problem and tests two interventions that have promise of benefit. To date, many of the therapies that have been tested for congestive heart failure have either been ineffective or actually decreased survival. Conventional therapy is still relatively ineffective in that recent studies such as the Congestive Heart Failure - Survival Trial of Antiarrhythmic Therapy (CHF-STAT) have demonstrated a mortality of 40 percent during two-and-half years of follow-up. The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator appears to be effective in patients who are resuscitated from cardiac arrest, but until recently, the devices required a thoracotomy and had to be reserved for patients with the highest risk for sudden death. The newer transvenous devices with pectoral patches can now be considered for broader applications. Although there have been mixed results with amiodarone in patients with congestive heart failure, there is a general consensus that it could be effective in the proper subset of patients with congestive heart failure. A comparison of the optimal device and drug is appropriate for such a high risk population.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

Three-armed, randomized, multicenter trial conducted at over 125 North American, Australian and New Zealand sites. Patients were enrolled over 2.5 years after being randomly assigned to amiodarone, matched placebo or an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD). Median follow-up was 45.5 months. All three arms used conventional therapy for heart failure and coronary artery disease (ACE inhibitors, lipid lowering and beta-blockers). The central hypothesis was that amiodarone or the ICD would improve survival compared to placebo. The primary outcome was the prevention of all-cause mortality. Secondary outcome measures included cardiac mortality and arrhythmic mortality, morbidity, quality of life, and incremental cost-effectiveness of the interventions.

The study completion date listed in this record was obtained from the "End Date" entered in the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) record.

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Phase 3

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

Ages Eligible for Study

19 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Patients with New York Heart Association class II or class III heart failure and ejection fraction less than or equal to 35%.

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: Randomized

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

Investigators

  • Kerry Lee, Duke University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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

May 1, 1997

Study Completion (Actual)

April 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 27, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 27, 1999

First Posted (Estimate)

October 28, 1999

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 13, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 12, 2016

Last Verified

November 1, 2005

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 112
  • U01HL055766 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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