12 | MUSChealth.org/heart MUSC HEALTH HEART & VASCULAR CENTER At MUSC Health’s Heart & Vascular Center, more than 50 clinical trials are enrolling at any given time. These trials offer access to leading-edge drugs, devices and treatments that may not be available elsewhere in the state or even in the United States. In fact, by the time some treatments are approved for widespread use, MUSC Health doctors have already been using and evaluating them for many years. “There have been some game-changers with regard to medications and treatments for heart failure,” said Dr. Ryan J. Tedford, section head of the heart failure and transplant team at MUSC. “Clinical trials are a key part of these breakthrough discoveries and new treatments.” During clinical trials, doctors test how well new medical approaches work in people. Each study answers scientific questions and tries to find better ways to prevent, screen for, diagnose or treat a disease. Clinical trials may also compare a new treatment to a treatment that is already available. Some of the game-changing medications and treatments that are a direct result of clinical trials include Barostim, an implanted device that uses electrical impulses to stimulate the nerve that regulates blood pressure, inducing the blood vessels to relax. When the blood vessels out in the periphery are relaxed, that makes for less work for the heart, according to Dr. Jean Marie Ruddy, a vascular surgeon who served as the principal investigator at the MUSC site for the clinical trial of the implantation of Barostim. “Although the device does not usually reverse heart failure, it can improve patients’ quality of life,” explained Dr. Tedford. “It’s intended for patients who are in that middle ground of not getting sufficient benefit from medication but not sick enough for a heart pump or heart transplant.” “Clinical trials are on a constant cycle,” said Dr. Tedford. “One particular source of pride for me is our doctors’ collaborative contributions to many firsts for therapies and procedures for heart failure.” MUSC TRIALS INCLUDE • The use of biomarkers to signal early heart transplant rejection; • Novel devices to reduce acute and chronic heart failure symptoms; • The use of SGLT2 inhibitors to reduce the risk of heart failure and heart attacks and slow the progression of kidney dysfunction; • Lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions to support weight loss; • New drug therapies for pulmonary hypertension and heart failure; • Strategies to reduce bias and improve allocation of advanced heart failure therapies; • Minimally invasive heart valve replacements and heart pump implantation. CLINICAL TRIALS Where People Help Medicine Advance Dr. Ryan Tedford “Clinical trials are a key part of these breakthrough discoveries and new treatments.”
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