Boston Scientific has completed enrolling its first patient for neural cardiac therapy for heart failure (NECTAR-HF) clinical trial.
The international, prospective, randomized clinical feasibility study is designed to evaluate the preliminary safety and efficacy of chronic vagal nerve stimulation in heart failure patients.
The study will assess 96 patients with vagal nerve stimulator implants at multiple centers in Europe.
Inserm Clinical Investigation Center director, Therapeutics and Cardiology professor and Steering Committee chairman and principal investigator Faiez Zannad said stimulating the vagus nerve in the cervical region is used to treat depression and epilepsy; however, promising pre-clinical data show that this therapy may also help a large population of heart failure patients who are currently not candidates for heart failure device therapy.
Hospital ClinicMedical director, Medicine professor, Steering Committee member and co-principal investigator Josep Brugada said NECTAR-HF will study whether vagal nerve stimulation can restore autonomic balance and therefore improve heart function, increase exercise capacity and inhibit the progression of heart failure.