Manchester Heart Centre team recruits 500th patient to UK-wide study comparing treatments for severe narrowing of vital heart valve
The research team at Manchester Heart Centre has recruited the 500th patient to a UK-wide study looking at two ways of treating aortic stenosis.
In aortic stenosis, the opening of the heart’s aortic valve becomes smaller, obstructing the flow of blood out of the organ.
The United Kingdom Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (UK TAVI) trial is comparing the TAVI procedure to that of open-heart surgery, which in the past has been the only effective treatment for patients with aortic stenosis.
During the TAVI procedure, a new aortic valve is delivered to the heart through a tube via one of the main arteries of the body. This treatment has the potential advantage in that it is less invasive than open-heart surgery and the use of a heart-lung bypass machine to take over the job of the heart during the operation is not always required.
The long-term effectiveness of the TAVI procedure is not yet well known and so researchers want to assess the clinical and cost effectiveness of the treatment.
Manchester Heart Centre, based at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT), is one of a number of sites across the country running the study, alongside the Chief Investigator at the University of Leicester. It is funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Clinical Evaluation and Trials Programme.
Research nurses at Manchester Heart Centre
The study’s Principal Investigator (PI) at CMFT is Mr Ragheb Hasan, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Lead Surgeon. Dr Douglas Fraser, Consultant Cardiologist, is the co-PI.
Mr Hasan said:
I am delighted to have received the news that on Monday 10th October we recruited the 500th patient to this national study. We are hopeful that the findings will help to benefit aortic stenosis patients hugely in the future.
“At CMFT, we have now recruited 32 patients to the trial, which is fantastic and well over our original recruitment target of 24. I would like to thank the team at Manchester Heart Centre for their on-going hard work and dedication.”
The Manchester Heart Centre has an exceptional track record of undertaking world class research and over the past 5 years, over 180 peer-reviewed publications have been published.
