Ablation at Virtual-hEart pRedicted Targets for VT (AVERT-VT)

February 4, 2026 updated by: Johns Hopkins University
The goal of this study is to test the efficacy of the new imaging/simulation ("virtual heart") approach for determining the optimal ablation sites in patients with VT, which render post-infarction VT non-inducible. The study will test both the acute outcome of the ablation procedure, and the effect the use of the predicted targets has upon procedure time.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

10

Phase

  • 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 Locations

    • Maryland
      • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
        • Johns Hopkins

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 and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Eligible patients must be at least 18 years old at the time of enrollment.
  • A Pre-Op cardiac MRI including late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) must be performed prior to ablation. As Johns Hopkins University (JHU) performs MRIs with implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker implanted, patients with these devices may be enrolled.
  • Eligible patients must suffer from VT, thought to be secondary to structural heart disease (scarring).
  • Eligible patients must be determined to be suitable candidates for ablation to treat VT by their cardiologist and/or electrophysiologists regardless of this protocol.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) < 30 mL/min should not be enrolled in the study due to the use of intravenous gadolinium as an MRI contrast agent
  • If a pre-procedure MRI cannot or likely will not be performed for any reason (such as claustrophobia), the patient must be excluded.
  • Pregnant women may not participate in the study because gadolinium MRI contrast is contraindicated in these patients.
  • Any subject that, during the course of the pre-procedure imaging, is discovered to have VT not related to scarring, he/she must be de-enrolled from the study.

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Virtual Heart Guided Ablation
If a good quality cardiac MRI is obtained and a virtual heart model with the ablation targets is generated, the operating physician will merge the virtual heart lesion map to the invasive electroanatomical navigation system. After the patient has been catheterized, an attempt should be made to induce VT. The physician should then navigate the catheter to each of the ablation targets specified, and place a lesion as per his or her training and experience, confirming when done that the lesion marker in the mapping system coincides with the target. This will be done for each lesion.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Ventricular Tachycardia Inducibility
Time Frame: time of procedure
Following ablation, inducibility of VT will be determined using programmed electrical stimulation
time of procedure

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Freedom From Ventricular Tachycardia
Time Frame: 1 year
Long term Freedom of Spontaneous Ventricular Tachycardia
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jonathan Chrispin, MD, Johns Hopkins University

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 (Actual)

September 26, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 14, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 14, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

May 24, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 4, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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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