Henry Ford Health in Detroit to Lead Clinical Trial on Heart Device

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A national clinical trial studying the LAmbre Plus Left Atrial Appendage Closure System will be led by Detroit’s Henry Ford Health. // Stock Photo

Henry Ford Health in Detroit will be spearheading a multi-center, first-of-its-kind national clinical trial dubbed the “CORRAL-AF IDE” study for a left atrial appendage occlusion device known as the LAmbre Plus Left Atrial Appendage Closure System.

“Left atrial appendage occlusion has emerged as an important therapy to help reduce the risk of stroke in those patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation,” says Dr. Brian O’Neill, an interventional cardiology specialist at HFH and the trial’s lead investigator. “We hope this trial will offer yet another option to those patients who may be searching for an alternative to anti-coagulation.”

Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO), also referred to as left atrial appendage closure, is a treatment strategy to reduce the risk of blood clots from the left atrial appendage entering the bloodstream and causing a stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.

LAAO devices are implanted in the heart and are intended to reduce the risk of thromboembolism from the left atrial appendage (LAA) in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The device mechanically occludes the LAA to prevent LAA thrombus, a condition commonly associated with atrial fibrillation or AFib, from entering the systemic circulation, which carries oxygenated blood from the left ventricle through the arteries to the capillaries in the tissues of the body.

O’Neill announced the U.S. Food and Drug Association-approved clinical trial at the annual CSI-LAA Focus Conference held in Frankfurt, Germany last month to interventional cardiologists and electrophysiologists attending from around the world.

The trial received the necessary approval from the FDA in March and from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in August. The approvals open the way for patients to enroll in the clinical trial and be fully covered by U.S. medical insurance providers.

This prospective, randomized controlled, multicenter clinical trial will provide important clinical data that will help investigators evaluate the safety and effectiveness of implanting the innovative device in non-valvular AFib patients with large and/or irregularly shaped, multi-lobed appendages, as compared to oral anticoagulants used to prevent blood clots.

The trial plans to enroll more than 3,000 people across 75 participating hospitals with more than 1,500 implantations of the LAmbreTM Plus LAA device.

“This is a very important clinical trial with the potential to expand patients’ options to a device therapy for irregular or multi-lobed complex LAA anatomies,” says Dr. Dee Dee Wang, a specialist in structural heart imaging and a co-investigator for the trial at HFH.

The study obtained CMS reimbursement, which ensures that all patients participating in the clinical trial will be fully covered by medical insurance in the U.S. If the CORRAL-AF IDE trial results reach the established clinical and safety evidence objectives, the trial results would be presented to the FDA for approval to make the new device available to the public.

To learn more about cardiology care and innovations at the Henry Ford Heart and Vascular Institute, click here.