The first patient has been enrolled in the CorCinch EU study, which is a European multicentre clinical evaluation of the AccuCinch ventricular repair system (Ancora Heart) as a treatment for patients with reduced ejection fraction systolic heart failure. This is the second recently initiated study evaluating the AccuCinch system that specifically focuses on heart failure and the enlarged left ventricle. It will enrol up to 132 patients from heart centres across Europe.
The transcatheter AccuCinch therapy is designed to complement and enhance the existing care cardiologists provide to further manage symptoms and slow, or stop, the progression of heart failure. For some patients, AccuCinch may have the potential to reverse the enlargement of the left ventricle; and for patients for whom the heart failure has progressed beyond the ability for medications and pacemakers to manage symptoms, it may provide an effective treatment option. The system is designed to directly repair the left ventricle of the heart, thereby addressing the fundamental issue in the progression of systolic heart failure.
The first patient was enrolled in the study at Homolka Hospital in Prague by Petr Neužil (Homolka Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic), who is the principal investigator of the study. The AccuCinch procedure was completed by co-investigator Vivek Reddy (The Mount Sinai Hospital, New York,USA) along with Neužil. Neužil says: “The transcatheter AccuCinch therapy is unique in its ventricular approach, which is intended to improve heart function by repairing the left ventricle for patients with systolic heart failure regardless of its origin. We are pleased to participate in this study because the AccuCinch has the potential to address the shortcomings of current medical, surgical and transcatheter treatments and restore quality of life and longevity for this large patient population.”
Jeff Closs, president and CEO of Ancora Heart, comments: “AccuCinch promises to be an unprecedented method for improving the care and quality of life for patients with heart failure. Enrolling the first systolic heart failure patient in this European study is an important achievement towards our goal of demonstrating that the therapy has the potential to fundamentally improve heart function. This study will provide us with valuable data on the therapy’s potential benefits.”
