Measuring Electrical Resistance of Different Tissues on the Outer Surface of the Heart

August 15, 2016 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

Impedance Measurement of Epicardial Substrate for Ventricular Arrhythmias: Case Control Series of Patients With and Without Myocardial Scarring

This is a research study to evaluate the electrical properties of heart tissue. The purpose of this study is to determine the impedance (electrical resistance) of different tissues on the outer surface of the heart. This may be important for distinguishing scarred heart muscle from fat that can be seen on the surface of the heart. This information may eventually be utilized in patients that undergo a procedure (called catheter ablation) for the treatment of life-threatening heart rhythms. Investigators expect a detectable difference between the impedance of normal and infarcted myocardium (approximately 50 ohms).

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Conditions

Detailed Description

The treatment of cardiac arrhythmias with endocardial catheter ablation has evolved rapidly over the past few decades. At the time of this writing, the ablation of almost all atrial and ventricular arrhythmias has been described in the literature. Multiple energy modalities (e.g. radiofrequency, cryotherapy) and approaches (e.g. retrograde aortic, transseptal puncture) have been described, yet ablation of some rhythms is not as successful as others.

The realization that ventricular tachycardia (VT) in the setting of Chagas Disease can originate in the epicardium has lead to the development of a percutaneous, transthoracic epicardial approach to mapping and ablation of this arrhythmia. This approach has now been applied to patients with VT in the setting of ischemic and nonischemic heart disease at many centers throughout the world. Traditional mapping technologies are utilized on the epicardium to define scarred heart tissue and locate the VT circuit.

It is well known that human hearts display a variable amount of fat overlying the epicardium. Not only is the coronary vasculature embedded in a layer of adipose tissue, but the rest of the heart may have areas of epicardial fat. As fat is an insulator and does not generate or easily conduct electrical activity, current mapping techniques may classify epicardial fat incorrectly as myocardial scar. This may have important effects on the ability to diagnose and treat arrhythmias with epicardial ablation.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

8

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

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

18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery for coronary artery disease

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery for coronary artery disease (with or without normal heart function) or valvular disease (with normal heart function) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Y. Joseph Woo MD will be eligible.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients undergoing emergent surgery and patients with idiopathic cardiomyopathy, infiltrative cardiomyopathies and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies will be excluded.

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

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Collaborators

Biosense Webster, Inc.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: David J. Callans, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Dept of Medicine, Cardiology Division

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

April 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 10, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

February 13, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

August 16, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 15, 2016

Last Verified

August 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 803272

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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