Cardiac cachexia in advanced heart failure – prospective cohort study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cardiac cachexia in advanced heart failure – a prospective cohort study investigating prevalence and outcome
IRAS ID
334613
Contact name
Owais Dar
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals (part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust)
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Cardiac cachexia is a complex condition associated with heart failure (when the heart is not pumping normally, causing symptoms such as breathlessness and leg swelling). There is general loss of muscle with or without loss of fat. The main feature of cardiac cachexia is unintentional weight loss in adults. The reason why it develops is poorly understood currently. Importantly, some studies have shown that cardiac cachexia is more likely to lead to poorer outcomes (such as death) in the patients who develop it.
However, there are few studies that look at this condition in those patients who have very weak hearts ("advanced heart failure").
We are looking to investigate how common cardiac cachexia is within this group of patients. With this in mind, we will be able to establish the fuller impact cardiac cachexia has on survival and outcomes in patients with advanced heart failure.
We are looking to run a study where we take a group of heart failure patients (~200 patients in total) and monitor their health over 12 months'. We will collect their health data at baseline, and in 12 months' time. The data will include things like: age, gender, current medications and medical conditions, results on scans they have had, and questionnaires on their lifestyle conditions.
We can then see, after 12 months' time: 1) how common cardiac cachexia is overall, and 2) if there is a difference in terms of survival and outcomes between the groups of patients' being studied.
REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/PR/1376
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jan 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion