Cardiovascular Clinical Trials

What Do Clinical Trials Study? 

Heart and vascular clinical trials at AnMed have researched conditions and procedures such as: 

• Cardiac ablation for arrhythmia 
• Heart failure
• Heart valve surgery
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Pacemaker and defibrillator implants
• Use of stents (tiny tubes) to keep arteries open

Participating in a Clinical Trial

According to the National Institutes of Health, steps to join a clinical trial include: 

1. Study staff explain the trial in detail and gather more information about you.
2. Once you have had all your questions answered and agree to participate, you sign an informed consent form.
3. You are screened to make sure you qualify for the trial.
4. If accepted into the trial, you schedule a first visit (called the “baseline” visit). The researchers conduct health tests during this visit.
5. You are randomly assigned to a treatment or control group. (If you’re a control group member, you don’t receive the new treatment. But researchers compare your outcome to patients who did receive it, so they know if the treatment made a difference.)
6. You follow the trial procedures and report any issues or concerns to researchers.
7. You may visit the research site at regularly scheduled times for new cognitive, physical, or other evaluations and discussions with staff. At these visits, the research team collects information about the effects of the treatment and your safety and well-being.
8. Throughout the study, you continue to see your regular AnMed physician for usual health care.