Screening for heart failure in people attending lymphoedema clinics with a quick blood test
Tests a quick same-visit blood test for heart failure in adults with lymphoedema.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Swansea Bay University Health Board
- Where
- Swansea, United KingdomSee the site
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Detecting the Undetected: Heart Failure Screening at the Lymphoedema Point of Care
- Status
- Not yet recruiting
- People taking part
- 618 people, planned
- Started
- May 2026
- Expected to end
- Sept 2028
- Type of study
- Observational
- Record updated
- 27 March 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 swelling in both legs who attend the Swansea Bay lymphoedema service and have no heart failure diagnosis. It tests a 12-minute point of care blood test for heart failure.
- Age
- 18 years or older
- Sex
- All sexes can join
- Disease stage
- Swelling (oedema) in both lower legs. No diagnosis of heart failure.
- Biomarker or test result
- No NT-proBNP test in the previous 12-months, or lymphoedema has become more severe since an NT-proBNP test in the last 12-months.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Not a patient of the Swansea Bay University Health Board Lymphoedema Service
- Existing heart failure diagnosis
- Unable to give consent for themselves
- Pregnant or gave birth in the last 6-months
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 12 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Patient of Swansea Bay University Health Board Lymphoedema Service
- Consent to participate in the study
- Bilateral lower limb oedema
- Aged 18-years or older
- Able to provided informed consent to be involved
- No diagnosis of heart failure
- No NT-proBNP test in the previous 12-months OR increase in lymphoedema severity since an NT-proBNP test in the last 12-months
Who cannot take part
- Patients with an existing heart failure diagnosis
- All inclusion criteria not met
- Not a lymphoedema patient in Swansea Bay University Health Board Lymphoedema Service
- Unable to consent for themselves
- Women who are pregnant or have given birth in the last 6-months
Where in United Kingdom
- Swansea Bay Lymphoedema Clinic, Singleton HospitalSwansea, United KingdomContact: National Lymphoedema TeamNot yet recruiting
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Heart failure affects more people than the four most common cancers combined. When identified early, management is more straightforward, preventing complications, hospitalisations, and fatalities. Breathlessness and fatigue are cardinal symptoms of heart failure that can present in a number of conditions. As a result, leg swelling, the third cardinal symptom, is the first noted in many people. The presence of leg swelling leads to patients being seen in lymphoedema clinics before the need for cardiology investigation has been identified. Lymphoedema is the presence of chronic oedema as a result of congenital abnormalities, inflammation, infection, trauma, or cancer and its treatments. The vast majority of lymphoedema patients have swelling in their legs.
Read full original descriptionShow less
A recent study has shown that 9.4% lymphoedema patients need to be investigated for heart failure. At present, the need for investigation is identified by performing a laboratory blood test, which takes time to arrange and complete. An alternate point of care test can provide a result in 12-minutes at the lymphoedema appointment, and enable appropriate action to be taken. This can reduce the demands on primary care and shorten the chain of events to a specialist assessment, as well as reducing inappropriate referrals.
This research, funded by NHS Wales Performance and Improvement, will perform a point of care test to screen for possible heart failure in lymphoedema clinics and establish the clinical utility by exploring the experiences of patients and staff involved and determining the health economic benefits. A supplementary aim is to compare the point of care test to the currently used laboratory test in a subsample to promote confidence in the test and support efforts to spread and scale across all health boards in Wales on completion.
The group in the trial
- Bilateral lower limb lymphoedema patients
People with bilateral lower limb lymphoedema who do not have a prior diagnosis of heart failure and have not been investigated for heart failure in the last 12-months, unless their oedema has increased in severity.
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
- Detecting the Undetected: an Observational Cohort Study Evaluating the Health Economics, Clinical Utility, and Patient and Staff Experiences of Innovative Peptide Testing to Screen for Heart Failure in Lymphoedema Clinics
- Plain-language title
- Screening for heart failure in people attending lymphoedema clinics with a quick blood testGenerated 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
- 27 March 2026