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PULSed Field Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation Using a Balloon for Early Intervention - Study (PULSE)

21 de agosto de 2026 actualizado por: Asklepios proresearch

PULSed Field Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation Using a Balloon for Early Intervention - Study - The "PULSE - Study"

This study is a prospective, multicenter, randomized, open-label, blinded end-point, controlled clinical trial to investigate the impact of first line pulsed field ablation during 12 months follow-up in patients with early-stage paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation (<3 years) compared to usual care, defined as OMT.

Descripción general del estudio

Estado

Reclutamiento

Descripción detallada

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a progressive arrhythmia associated with significant morbidity and mortality and burden for our health care system. Early rhythm-control therapy was beneficial regarding cardiovascular outcomes in patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic AF. Recent studies introducing first line Cryo Balloon based catheter ablation EARLY-AF and STOP -AF provided strong evidence supporting early catheter ablation over pharmacologic rhythm control in the paroxysmal setting of AF. Ongoing studies are challenging the current concept investigating the expansion of early rhythm control also to all types of clinically diagnosed AF using cryo ablation. With the advent of pulsed field ablation (PFA), a third energy source-alongside cryothermal and radiofrequency (RF) ablation-has been established for the effective treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). PFA induces so-called irreversible electroporation, thereby enabling successful ablation of myocardial tissue. Different cell types exhibit varying susceptibility and threshold levels for irreversible electroporation when exposed to PFA. Carefully tailored PFA pulse trains deliver sufficient energy to induce irreversible electroporation while avoiding excessive thermal effects on the surrounding tissue. Consequently, PFA enables selective targeting of myocardial tissue while minimizing collateral injury. This characteristic may translate into improved safety and efficacy in the treatment of AF. In contrast, thermal ablation techniques such as cryoablation and RF ablation inherently rely on substantial temperature changes, either cooling or heating, which may adversely affect adjacent anatomical structures including nerves (e.g., resulting in phrenic nerve palsy), vascular structures, and extracardiac tissues such as the esophagus. The occurrence of these potentially life-threatening complications may be reduced or possibly avoided using PFA. Over recent years, various PFA catheter designs as well as different PFA energy delivery settings have been introduced to enable effective and safe pulmonary vein isolation (PVI). A broad spectrum of catheter configurations-including focal single-tip catheters, pentaspline multielectrode systems, and balloon-based technologies-has been incorporated into clinical practice. Substantial comparative data evaluating PFA against conventional thermal ablation modalities (cryoablation and RF ablation) are now available. To date, no significant differences in acute procedural success rates, procedural parameters, or clinical outcome measures have been consistently observed, although one randomized trial demonstrated a trend toward improved outcomes with PFA. Across these studies, procedure duration was significantly shorter with PFA compared with conventional thermal ablation, representing an additional potential advantage of this treatment modality. More recent studies suggest that catheter ablation-particularly PFA-based ablation-for AF patients without documented recurrence during follow-up may be associated with a reduction in overall ischemic stroke events. These findings indicate that catheter ablation of AF may confer additional benefits in preventing adverse cardiovascular outcomes compared with medical therapy alone. Even in cases of AF recurrence, catheter ablation has been shown not only to significantly reduce AF burden but also to slow the progression from paroxysmal to persistent AF, the latter generally being associated with less favorable clinical outcomes compared with ablation performed during earlier disease stages. Despite the availability of effective antiarrhythmic drug therapy for AF, long-term pharmacological treatment is frequently limited by intolerance, side effects, or insufficient efficacy in a substantial proportion of patients. Nevertheless, large, randomized trials directly comparing PFA-based AF ablation with optimized medical therapy remain scarce.

Therefore, the PULSE study aims to evaluate the impact of PFA using a balloon-based catheter system for the treatment of AF on the maintenance of sinus rhythm compared with optimized medical therapy. In addition, the study will assess AF disease progression in patients with early-stage atrial fibrillation, including both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals with paroxysmal or early persistent AF.

Tipo de estudio

Intervencionista

Inscripción (Estimado)

264

Fase

  • No aplica

Contactos y Ubicaciones

Esta sección proporciona los datos de contacto de quienes realizan el estudio e información sobre dónde se lleva a cabo este estudio.

Estudio Contacto

Copia de seguridad de contactos de estudio

Ubicaciones de estudio

      • Bad Oeynhausen, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • HZD Bad Oeynhausen
        • Contacto:
          • Philipp Sommer, MD
      • Cologne, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • Uniklinik Köln
        • Contacto:
          • Daniel Steven, MD
      • Düsseldorf, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • Uniklinik Düsseldorf
        • Contacto:
          • Obaida Rana, MD
      • Frankfurt, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • CCB Frankfurt
        • Contacto:
          • Melanie Gunawardene, MD
      • Giessen, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • Uniklinik Gießen
        • Contacto:
          • Borislav Dinov, MD
      • Hamburg, Alemania, 20099
        • Reclutamiento
        • Arian Sultan
        • Contacto:
      • Herne, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • Marien Hospital Herne
        • Contacto:
          • Christian Ukena, MD
      • Leipzig, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • Leipzig Herzzentrum HZL
        • Contacto:
          • Kerstin Bode, MD
      • Neuss, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • Lukas Krankenhaus Neuss
        • Contacto:
          • Torsten Becker, MD
      • Nuremberg, Alemania
        • Aún no reclutando
        • Klinikum Nürnberg
        • Contacto:
          • Thomas Deneke, MD

Criterios de participación

Los investigadores buscan personas que se ajusten a una determinada descripción, denominada criterio de elegibilidad. Algunos ejemplos de estos criterios son el estado de salud general de una persona o tratamientos previos.

Criterio de elegibilidad

Edades elegibles para estudiar

  • Adulto
  • Adulto Mayor

Acepta Voluntarios Saludables

No

Descripción

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults (≥18 years) with symptomatic or asymptomatic, paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation
  • First diagnosis of AF within the last 36 months
  • At least one documented episode of AF on ECG, Holter monitoring, or eligible Smart Watch Device
  • No prior catheter ablation for AF

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Persistent AF >3 years or longstanding persistent AF
  • Previous AF-Ablation
  • Ongoing continuous AAD therapy with Amiodarone at baseline
  • History of failed continuous AAD therapy with > 1 agent. Exceptions are Beta blocker, Verapamil or "pill in the pocket"-therapy
  • Left Atrial Volume Index (LAVI) > 50mL/m2
  • Severe mitral regurgitation
  • Contraindications to anticoagulation therapy
  • Severe pulmonary or renal disease
  • Pregnancy, active cancer disease
  • Any condition or disease which is contraindication for AF ablation within 21 days or Anti-Arrhythmic Drug (AAD)

Plan de estudios

Esta sección proporciona detalles del plan de estudio, incluido cómo está diseñado el estudio y qué mide el estudio.

¿Cómo está diseñado el estudio?

Detalles de diseño

  • Propósito principal: Tratamiento
  • Asignación: Aleatorizado
  • Modelo Intervencionista: Asignación paralela
  • Enmascaramiento: Único

Armas e Intervenciones

Grupo de participantes/brazo
Intervención / Tratamiento
Comparador activo: Group1: Pulsed Field-Ablation
Patients randomized in the intervention group should receive the PFA ablation within 21 days.
PFA (Pulse Field Ablation) - Pulmonary vein isolation ablation for atrial fibrillation
Sin intervención: Group 2: Usual care
Patients randomized in the control group / usual care group will undergo optimal medical treatment (OMT), defined as antiarrhythmic drug therapy (AAD). Within 21 days patients in the control group should start or maintain on AAD therapy based on decision of the investigator and according to current ESC Guidelines.

¿Qué mide el estudio?

Medidas de resultado primarias

Medida de resultado
Medida Descripción
Periodo de tiempo
Freedom from any Atrial Tachyarrhythmia
Periodo de tiempo: through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
Arrhythmia-free survival, defined as freedom from atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, or atrial tachycardia lasting >30 seconds through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up on ILR monitoring via blinded core lab or any 12 lead ECG on visits, ECG Holter monitoring, or on symptom driven event monitoring after a 8 week Blanking period (reviewed by a blinded endpoint review committee).
through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up

Medidas de resultado secundarias

Medida de resultado
Medida Descripción
Periodo de tiempo
AF Burden
Periodo de tiempo: through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
Freedom from atrial fibrillation (AF) (>30 s) through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
Burden of Atrial Tachycardia and Atrial Flutter
Periodo de tiempo: through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
Freedom from atrial tachycardia and atrial flutter (AFL) (>30 s) through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
Re-hospitalization rate
Periodo de tiempo: up to 12 months follow-up
Re-hospitalization rate due to cardiovascular disease (e.g. AF, worsening of heart failure)
up to 12 months follow-up
AF Progression Timeline
Periodo de tiempo: through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
Progression from paroxysmal to persistent AF trough 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up.
through 9 weeks to 12 months follow-up
Symptom Burden assessed by quality of life
Periodo de tiempo: QoL will be measured at baseline and at 12 months of follow up evaluating the improvement of QoL within one year.

Symptom Burden, detected by Patient Questionnaires: Atrial Fibrillation Effect on QualiTy-of-Life (AFEQT) and MOCA.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is used as screening instrument for cognitive dysfunction.

The AFEQT questionnaire is used because it is specific to AF and validated in that subject population. From each AFEQT questionnaire, a single score will be calculated in line with AFEQT scoring guidelines and post-procedure values will be compared between the randomized arms.

QoL will be measured at baseline and at 12 months of follow up evaluating the improvement of QoL within one year.
Procedure-related complications
Periodo de tiempo: up to 12 months follow-up
Procedure-related complications, including phrenic nerve injury, pulmonary vein stenosis, esophageal injury and stroke.
up to 12 months follow-up
HF Progression Markers
Periodo de tiempo: up to 12 months follow-up
Progression of heart failure defined as trend in LV-EF and trend in BNP
up to 12 months follow-up

Colaboradores e Investigadores

Aquí es donde encontrará personas y organizaciones involucradas en este estudio.

Patrocinador

Investigadores

  • Investigador principal: Arian Sultan, MD, Asklepios Klinik St. Georg
  • Investigador principal: Stephan Willems, MD, Asklepios Klinik St. Georg

Publicaciones y enlaces útiles

La persona responsable de ingresar información sobre el estudio proporciona voluntariamente estas publicaciones. Estos pueden ser sobre cualquier cosa relacionada con el estudio.

Publicaciones Generales

Fechas de registro del estudio

Estas fechas rastrean el progreso del registro del estudio y los envíos de resultados resumidos a ClinicalTrials.gov. Los registros del estudio y los resultados informados son revisados ​​por la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina (NLM) para asegurarse de que cumplan con los estándares de control de calidad específicos antes de publicarlos en el sitio web público.

Fechas importantes del estudio

Inicio del estudio (Actual)

19 de agosto de 2026

Finalización primaria (Estimado)

31 de marzo de 2030

Finalización del estudio (Estimado)

31 de marzo de 2031

Fechas de registro del estudio

Enviado por primera vez

20 de mayo de 2026

Primero enviado que cumplió con los criterios de control de calidad

27 de mayo de 2026

Publicado por primera vez (Actual)

2 de junio de 2026

Actualizaciones de registros de estudio

Última actualización publicada (Actual)

24 de agosto de 2026

Última actualización enviada que cumplió con los criterios de control de calidad

21 de agosto de 2026

Última verificación

1 de agosto de 2026

Más información

Términos relacionados con este estudio

Palabras clave

Otros números de identificación del estudio

  • #4523 - PULSE Study

Información sobre medicamentos y dispositivos, documentos del estudio

Estudia un producto farmacéutico regulado por la FDA de EE. UU.

No

Estudia un producto de dispositivo regulado por la FDA de EE. UU.

No

Esta información se obtuvo directamente del sitio web clinicaltrials.gov sin cambios. Si tiene alguna solicitud para cambiar, eliminar o actualizar los detalles de su estudio, comuníquese con register@clinicaltrials.gov. Tan pronto como se implemente un cambio en clinicaltrials.gov, también se actualizará automáticamente en nuestro sitio web. .

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