Better ultrasound estimates of heart filling pressure in heart failure with atrial fibrillation
Tests new ultrasound methods in adults with heart failure and atrial fibrillation.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Oslo University Hospital
- Where
- Ljubljana, SloveniaSee the siteAlso in 9 other countries, 14 sites
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Novel Technologies to Improve Echocardiographic Estimates of Left Ventricular Filling Pressure in Heart Failure Combined With Atrial Fibrillation
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 400 people, planned
- Started
- Sept 2026
- Expected to end
- Dec 2029
- Type of study
- Observational
- Record updated
- 10 September 2026
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with atrial fibrillation who are already scheduled for a heart catheter test. It tests new ultrasound methods to estimate pressure in the left ventricle.
- Age
- 18 Years or older
- Sex
- All sexes can join.
- Disease stage
- Atrial fibrillation of any kind (paroxysmal, persistent, or permanent).
- Earlier treatment
- No change in heart medication between the ultrasound and the catheter test.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Mitral stenosis, or mitral annular calcification causing severe functional stenosis
- Severe mitral or severe tricuspid regurgitation
- Prosthetic mitral valve
- Atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response >120 bpm
- Pregnant women
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 16 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Atrial fibrillation (paroxysmal, persistent, or permanent)
- Scheduled for RHC or LHC for clinical reasons
- Able to undergo echocardiography and invasive pressure measurement within 8 hours
- No cardiovascular medication changes between echo and catheterization
- Written informed consent provided
Who cannot take part
- Conditions rendering PCWP or LVEDP unreliable
- Complex congenital heart disease
- LV assist device and patients with severe non-cardiac disease with poor prognosis
- Cardiac transplant patients
- End-stage liver disease
- Mitral stenosis or mitral annular calcification causing severe functional stenosis
- Severe mitral or severe tricuspid regurgitation
- Prosthetic mitral valve
- Atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response >120 bpm
- Suboptimal echocardiographic imaging
- Pregnant women
Where in Slovenia
Also in 9 other countries, 14 sites
- The Department of Cardiology at the Ljubljana University Medical CentreLjubljana, SloveniaContact: Marta Cvijic, MD, PhDNot yet recruiting
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Heart failure and atrial fibrillation are two of the most common heart diseases globally. Nearly half of all patients with heart failure also have atrial fibrillation. When heart failure and atrial fibrillation occur together, the risk of hospitalization and premature death increases significantly. However, there is a lack of reliable tools to assess how severely the heart is affected in these patients. This makes it difficult both to establish the correct diagnosis, tailor treatment, and predict who is at greatest risk of hospital admission or death from the disease.
Read full original descriptionShow less
One of the most important targets in heart failure is the filling pressure in the left ventricle. When this pressure is high, it means that the heart has difficulty receiving blood, leading to shortness of breath and fluid retention in the body. Today, filling pressure is usually estimated using ultrasound (echocardiography), but the available methods are primarily developed for patients without atrial fibrillation. In patients with both heart failure and atrial fibrillation, the measurements are so uncertain that they cannot be used as a reliable basis for clinical decision-making.
In this study, entitled Heart Failure combined with Atrial Fibrillation (HFcAF), the investigators will test new ultrasound methods that combine novel measures of cardiac chamber function with established techniques. Artificial intelligence will be used to identify the most useful combinations of parameters, select cardiac cycles that are best suited for analysis in atrial fibrillation, and automate and optimize the measurements. This approach may provide both more accurate and faster assessments, while also making the methods easier to implement in clinical practice. The aim is to improve the estimation of filling pressure so that it becomes more precise also in patients with atrial fibrillation. The investigators will then examine whether these improved methods can be used to predict which patients are at highest risk of hospitalization or death due to heart failure.
The study is designed as a prospective multicenter study, in which patients are recruited from several hospitals in different countries. This will make the results robust and generalizable to a wide range of patient populations. The investigators anticipate that the project will pave the way for better diagnostics and risk stratification in heart failure combined with atrial fibrillation and, in the longer term, contribute to improved guidelines and treatment for a large number of patients. If successful, the project will provide a new tool that can contribute to earlier and more targeted treatment, thereby improving quality of life and prognosis for a large group of patients.
The group in the trial
- Patients with atrial fibrillation referred for right- or left-heart catheterization
We will recruit patients \>18 years with established or suspected heart failure who have atrial fibrillation and are referred to a diagnostic right- or left-sided heart catheterization or interventional procedures via the left atrium. Balanced numbers with normal and reduced left venticular ejection fraction, balanced representation of sexes, of short (\<1year) and long-lasting duration of atrial fibrillation will be attempted.
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- Novel Technologies to Improve Echocardiographic Estimates of Left Ventricular Filling Pressure in Heart Failure Combined With Atrial Fibrillation: A Prospective Multicenter Study
- Plain-language title
- Better ultrasound estimates of heart filling pressure in heart failure with atrial fibrillationGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 13 November 2026.
- Record updated
- 10 September 2026