The Fuqua Heart Center of Atlanta at Piedmont Hospital (FHC) is at the forefront of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to broaden access to clinical trials. This initiative provides FHC’s community-based clinicians the opportunity to provide their patients with the most innovative treatment options available. The current portfolio of NIH trials includes:
FREEDOM
The primary objective of the FREEDOM trial is to assess the long-term effectiveness of multi-vessel PCI with drug-eluting stents, compared to CABG in preventing all cause mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction or stroke. Patients are randomized on a 1:1 basis either to CABG or multi-vessel PCI/stenting.
CORAL
The CORAL trial tests the hypothesis that stenting hemodynamically significant atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis in patients with systolic hypertension reduces the incidence of cardiovascular and renal events. All patients undergo renal angiography and, if stenosis of either renal artery measures >60 and £80%, measurement of trans-lesional pressure gradients is required. After final confirmation that the patient has met all inclusion criteria, patients are randomized to renal artery stenting with medical therapy vs. medical therapy alone.
CREST
This study contrasts the relative efficacy of Carotid Artery Stenting (CAS) vs. Carotid Endarterectomy (CEA) in preventing stroke, myocardial infarction and death during a 30-day peri-procedural period, and stroke ipsilateral to the study artery over a follow-up period in patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic extracranial carotid stenosis. Patients are randomly assigned to undergo either carotid endarterectomy or carotid stenting. Participation in NIH studies at FHC is conducted in conjunction with the patient’s primary physician or cardiologist.
For more information about NIH research being conducted at FHC, please call 404-606-3150.