MedTrace Logo

Accelerated Pacing and Cardiac Filling Pressures During Exercise in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

NCT07270536 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2026-06-05

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

What is HFpEF? In heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), the heart pumps well but struggles to relax and fill with blood between beats. This raises the pressure inside the heart, especially during physical activity, causing symptoms like shortness of breath and fatigue - even with light activities like walking or climbing stairs.

What is this study about? Recent research suggests that a higher heart rate may help lower this elevated pressure. Many HFpEF patients already have a pacemaker. This study investigates whether simply increasing the pacemaker rate during light exercise can reduce the pressure in the heart.

How does the study work? We wille measure heart pressures in 20 patients in rest and while cycling using a heart catheter and monitor their breathing. Throughout these measurements, we will gradually increase the pacemaker rate step by step.

Why does this matter? If a higher pacemaker rate successfully lowers heart pressure, this could offer a simple, drug-free way to improve daily functioning and comfort for thousands of patients with HFpEF, justifying further long-term studies to evaluate effects beyond the immediate changes in heart pressures.

Conditions

Interventions

OTHER

Accelerated pacing with AV-delay optimization during rest and light intensity cycling

Patients will undergo one resting and one exercise protocol (25 Watts). During each protocol, the pacemaker rate will be gradually increased in three stages: +20, +40, +60 bpm at rest and +10, +30, +50 bpm during exercise. At each stage, intracardiac pressures and shear-wave velocity will be measured. In a final fourth stage, the pacemaker rate returns to the level associated with the lowest filling pressure, after which blood oxygen levels and oxygen uptake are assessed to calculate cardiac output.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Hartcentrum Hasselt

    collaborator OTHER

  • Universitaire Ziekenhuizen KU Leuven

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-12-10
Primary Completion
2027-03-01
Completion
2027-03-01

Countries

  • Belgium

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07270536 on ClinicalTrials.gov