Inhaled furosemide for dyspnoea relief in advanced heart failure
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Inhaled furosemide for dyspnoea relief in advanced heart failure
IRAS ID
181822
Contact name
J Grogono
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Eudract number
2015-001468-21
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 13 days
Research summary
Patients with heart failure often feel breathless (‘dyspnoea’) which limits daily activities. Furosemide is a prescription drug taken as a tablet or as an injection which makes kidneys produce more urine to remove fluid build-up in heart failure. Over time a third of patients will need more furosemide to get the same response from the kidneys but high level of furosemide can lead to kidney failure. If furosemide is inhaled instead this is known to stop coughing, protect the airways from collapsing and can ease breathlessness by tricking the brain into thinking that more breathing is happening than is the case. This direct action may result in lower doses of furosemide which better protects the kidneys.
This study will assess the effect of inhaled furosemide on breathlessness in patients with chronic advanced heart failure. It will 1) find the best breathing pattern to inhale furosemide 2) test whether a more thorough cycle exercise test can be used instead of the usual walking test as a measure of symptoms 3) assess a breathlessness test that does not require patients to exercise 4) measure how much furosemide is absorbed into the blood when it is inhaled 5) see if substances in the blood that indicate degree of heart failure will change after exercise.
All tests will be done within John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. We will study 12 patients with advanced heart failure who will visit the hospital on four separate occasions and should complete their participation in 4 weeks.
This study is funded by the British Heart Foundation. The results from this study will enable a more reliable larger trial to be conducted in the future focusing on the relief of breathlessness in heart failure patients using inhaled furosemide and may lead to improved treatment of breathlessness.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0480
Date of REC Opinion
11 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion