Rationale and Design of the Proactive-HF Trial for Managing Patients With NYHA Class III Heart Failure by Using the Combined Cordella Pulmonary Artery Sensor and the Cordella Heart Failure System.

BACKGROUND: Optimizing guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) and monitoring congestion in patients with heart failure (HF) are key to disease management and preventing hospitalizations. A pulmonary artery pressure (PAP)-guided HF management system providing access to body weight, blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, PAP, and symptoms, may provide new insights into the effects of patient engagement and comprehensive care for remote GDMT titration and congestion management. METHODS: The PROACTIVE-HF study was originally approved in 2018 as a prospective, randomized, controlled, single-blind, multicenter trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Cordella PAP Sensor in patients with HF and with New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III symptoms. Since then, robust clinical evidence supporting PAP-guided HF management has emerged, making clinical equipoise and enrolling patients into a standard-of-care control arm challenging. Therefore, PROACTIVE-HF was changed to a single-arm trial in 2021 with prespecified safety and effectiveness endpoints to provide evidence for a similar risk/benefit profile as the CardioMEMS HF System. CONCLUSION: The single-arm PROACTIVE-HF trial is expected to further demonstrate the benefits of PAP-guided HF management of patients with NYHA class III HF. The addition of vital signs, patient engagement and self-reported symptoms may provide new insights into remote GDMT titration and congestion management.

Seated Pulmonary Artery Pressure Monitoring in Patients With Heart Failure: Results of the PROACTIVE-HF Trial.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring supine pulmonary artery pressures to guide heart failure (HF) management has reduced HF hospitalizations in select patients. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of managing seated mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) with the Cordella Pulmonary Artery sensor on outcomes in patients with HF. METHODS: Following GUIDE-HF (Hemodynamic-GUIDEd Management of Heart Failure Trial), with U.S. Food and Drug Administration input, PROACTIVE-HF (A Prospective, Multi-Center, Open Label, Single Arm Clinical Trial Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of the Cordella Pulmonary Artery Sensor System in NYHA Class III Heart Failure Patients trial) was changed from a randomized to a single-arm, open label trial, conducted at 75 centers in the USA and Europe. Eligible patients had chronic HF with NYHA functional class III symptoms, irrespective of the ejection fraction, and recent HF hospitalization and/or elevated natriuretic peptides. The primary effectiveness endpoint at 6 months required the HF hospitalization or all-cause mortality rate to be lower than a performance goal of 0.43 events/patient, established from previous hemodynamic monitoring trials. Primary safety endpoints at 6 months were freedom from device- or system-related complications or pressure sensor failure. RESULTS: Between February 7, 2020, and March 31, 2023, 456 patients were successfully implanted in modified intent-to-treat cohort. The 6-month event rate was 0.15 (95% CI: 0.12-0.20) which was significantly lower than performance goal (0.15 vs 0.43; P < 0.0001). Freedom from device- or system-related complications was 99.2% and freedom from sensor failure was 99.8% through 6 months. CONCLUSIONS: Remote management of seated mPAP is safe and results in a low rate of HF hospitalizations and mortality. These results support the use of seated mPAP monitoring and extend the growing body of evidence that pulmonary artery pressure-guided management improves outcomes in heart failure. (Multi-Center, Open Label, Single Arm Clinical Trial Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of the Cordella Pulmonary Artery Sensor System in NYHA Class III Heart Failure Patients trial [PROACTIVE-HF]; NCT04089059).

Repetitive large-dose infusion of the novel hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4 in patients with severe head injury.

UNLABELLED: In this prospective, controlled, randomized, single-center study, we investigated the safety of repetitive large-dose infusion of a novel hydroxyethyl starch solution (6% HES 130/0.4) in cranio-cerebral trauma patients. Patients were randomized to receive either HES 130/0.4 (n = 16) at repetitive doses of up to 70 mL x kg(-1) x d(-1) (which is the largest HES dose reported in the literature) or the control HES 200/0.5 (n = 15) up to its approved dose limit of 33 mL x kg(-1) x d(-1) followed by human albumin up to a total dose (HES 200/0.5 + albumin) of 70 mL x kg(-1) x d(-1). We found no differences between groups in mortality, renal function, bleeding complications, and use of blood products. There were also no major differences in coagulation variables. However, at some time points, factor VIII, von Willebrand factor, and ristocetin cofactor were higher in the HES 130/0.4 group despite the large HES doses administered. We conclude that HES 130/0.4 can safely be used in critically ill head trauma patients over several days at doses of up to 70 mL x kg(-1) x d(-1). IMPLICATIONS: There are concerns that infusion of certain hydroxyethyl starch (HES) types for plasma volume expansion may influence coagulation and renal function. We investigated the safety of the novel HES 130/0.4 in patients with severe cranio-cerebral trauma. The repetitive HES doses administered in this study are the largest reported in the literature.