Press

HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston is participating in a global research study for patients with acute heart failure.

The study is led in the Hudson Valley by principal investigator Dr. Ellis Lader, a board-certified cardiologist at HealthAlliance Hospital. He is working with study coordinator Pamela Van Kleeck, a HealthAlliance registered nurse with a cardiology specialty, and Jeannine McErlean, a HealthAlliance RN with a decade of cardiac experience.
The study will test to see if an investigational product will be effective to manage acute heart-failure episodes.
Heart failure is a significant and growing public-health concern. It occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood to the body’s organs, resulting in shortness of breath, fatigue and retention of fluids.

Five million to six million Americans, and some 26 million people globally, have heart failure, a study published last year in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology indicated.

It is a leading cause of U.S. hospitalization, the study found.

“Hospitalized heart-failure patients continue to experience unacceptably high post-discharge mortality and readmission rates that have not changed in the last two decades,” the study said.

The clinical trial HealthAlliance is participating in is studying an expected 6,800 patients at approximately 550 study centers worldwide. The clinical trial seeks to confirm the investigational drug’s effectiveness, monitor side effects and collect information about safety for the patients.

In the trial, participating heart-failure patients receive a 48-hour IV infusion of either the investigational drug or a placebo, along with conventional therapy for acute heart failure.

All patients are tracked for six months for safety information, as well as to determine hospital readmission rates. Participation is voluntary.

“Many advances that have been achieved in medicine and improved the lives of patients have come about as the result of clinical trials,” Lader said. “We at HealthAlliance are proud to be part of this important clinical research.”