Clinical trial to examine ischemic heart disease management in patients with CKD

The NHLBI has awarded the NYU Langone Medical Center a $10 million grant to study the management of stable ischemic heart disease in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease.

The multicenter, randomized ISCHEMIA-CKD trial, to be conducted using this grant, will enroll approximately 1,000 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and at least moderate ischemia. The study will be conducted in parallel with the primary ISCHEMIA trial, supported by an $84 million NIH grant awarded in 2011, and will include patients who were ineligible for that study, according to a press release.

The ISCHEMIA-CKD trial will assess the effect of routine early catheterization with optimal revascularization, along with optimal medical therapy, on the risk for death or MI within a 4-year period, as compared with optimal medical therapy alone, with catheterization performed in the event of therapy failure. Quality of life related to chest pain also will be compared between the two strategies.

“NYU Langone is excited to extend our current research by comparing strategies to treat patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, an increasing common condition often associated with ischemic heart disease,” researcher Spripal Bangalore, MD, assistant professor, Leon H. Charney division of cardiology at NYU Langone Medical Center, stated in the release. “Given the aging population, the dramatic increase in obesity and diabetes, all of which are risk factors for kidney disease, the question of how to best manage patients with kidney disease who also have ischemia is exceedingly important.

“This NIH grant provides us with the opportunity to work with leaders in cardiology and kidney disease from around the world to compare treatment options for these patients,” Bangalore said.