AzTrials
AzTrials

ArrhythmiaPhase 3NCT00000609

Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT)

A Phase 3 study testing amiodarone and defibrillators, implantable in people with Arrhythmia and Cardiovascular Diseases, run by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

To compare conventional treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF) with two experimental interventions: amiodarone and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 19 to 90 years
What is being tested?
amiodarone and defibrillators, implantable
Type of treatment
Medical device
How many people
Not given
Where
No sites listed yet
Study dates
May 1997to Apr 2005
Phase
Phase 3
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 19 to 90 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Patients with New York Heart Association class II or class III heart failure and ejection fraction less than or equal to 35%.

About this study

To compare conventional treatment of congestive heart failure (CHF) with two experimental interventions: amiodarone and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD).

Read the detailed description

BACKGROUND:

Congestive heart failure is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, and sudden arrhythmic death is the cause of death in from 30 to 50 percent of those who die. The study addresses the problem and tests two interventions that have promise of benefit. To date, many of the therapies that have been tested for congestive heart failure have either been ineffective or actually decreased survival. Conventional therapy is still relatively ineffective in that recent studies such as the Congestive Heart Failure - Survival Trial of Antiarrhythmic Therapy (CHF-STAT) have demonstrated a mortality of 40 percent during two-and-half years of follow-up. The implantable cardioverter-defibrillator appears to be effective in patients who are resuscitated from cardiac arrest, but until recently, the devices required a thoracotomy and had to be reserved for patients with the highest risk for sudden death. The newer transvenous devices with pectoral patches can now be considered for broader applications. Although there have been mixed results with amiodarone in patients with congestive heart failure, there is a general consensus that it could be effective in the proper subset of patients with congestive heart failure. A comparison of the optimal device and drug is appropriate for such a high risk population.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

Three-armed, randomized, multicenter trial conducted at over 125 North American, Australian and New Zealand sites. Patients were enrolled over 2.5 years after being randomly assigned to amiodarone, matched placebo or an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD). Median follow-up was 45.5 months. All three arms used conventional therapy for heart failure and coronary artery disease (ACE inhibitors, lipid lowering and beta-blockers). The central hypothesis was that amiodarone or the ICD would improve survival compared to placebo. The primary outcome was the prevention of all-cause mortality. Secondary outcome measures included cardiac mortality and arrhythmic mortality, morbidity, quality of life, and incremental cost-effectiveness of the interventions.

The study completion date listed in this record was obtained from the "End Date" entered in the Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS) record.

Being tested
amiodarone, defibrillators, implantable
Medical subject headings
Arrhythmias, Cardiac, Cardiovascular Diseases, Death, Sudden, Cardiac, Heart Diseases, Heart Failure

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • amiodaroneDrug

  • defibrillators, implantableDevice

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted28 Oct 1999 (estimated)
  2. Study startMay 1997
  3. Study completionApr 2005

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00000609
Sponsor's protocol ID
112
Other IDs
U01HL055766
Status last verified
Nov 2005
First submitted
27 Oct 1999
Last updated
13 May 2016
Results posted
No

Publications

  • Bardy GH, Lee KL, Mark DB, Poole JE, Packer DL, Boineau R, Domanski M, Troutman C, Anderson J, Johnson G, McNulty SE, Clapp-Channing N, Davidson-Ray LD, Fraulo ES, Fishbein DP, Luceri RM, Ip JH; Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial (SCD-HeFT) Investigators. Amiodarone or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator for congestive heart failure. N Engl J Med. 2005 Jan 20;352(3):225-37. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa043399.

    PubMed 15659722

  • Kadish A. Prophylactic defibrillator implantation--toward an evidence-based approach. N Engl J Med. 2005 Jan 20;352(3):285-7. doi: 10.1056/NEJMe048351. No abstract available.

    PubMed 15659729

  • Reeder HT, Shen C, Buxton AE, Haneuse SJ, Kramer DB. Joint Shock/Death Risk Prediction Model for Patients Considering Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2019 Aug;12(8):e005675. doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.119.005675. Epub 2019 Aug 15.

    PubMed 31412732

  • Upshaw JN, Konstam MA, Klaveren Dv, Noubary F, Huggins GS, Kent DM. Multistate Model to Predict Heart Failure Hospitalizations and All-Cause Mortality in Outpatients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: Model Derivation and External Validation. Circ Heart Fail. 2016 Aug;9(8):e003146. doi: 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.116.003146.

    PubMed 27514751

  • Fishbein DP, Hellkamp AS, Mark DB, Walsh MN, Poole JE, Anderson J, Johnson G, Lee KL, Bardy GH; SCD-HeFT Investigators. Use of the 6-min walk distance to identify variations in treatment benefits from implantable cardioverter-defibrillator and amiodarone: results from the SCD-HeFT (Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2014 Jun 17;63(23):2560-2568. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2014.02.602. Epub 2014 Apr 9.

    PubMed 24727258

  • Chen J, Johnson G, Hellkamp AS, Anderson J, Mark DB, Lee KL, Bardy GH, Poole JE. Rapid-rate nonsustained ventricular tachycardia found on implantable cardioverter-defibrillator interrogation: relationship to outcomes in the SCD-HeFT (Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial). J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013 May 28;61(21):2161-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2013.02.046. Epub 2013 Mar 26.

    PubMed 23541974

  • Al-Khatib SM, Hellkamp A, Bardy GH, Hammill S, Hall WJ, Mark DB, Anstrom KJ, Curtis J, Al-Khalidi H, Curtis LH, Heidenreich P, Peterson ED, Sanders G, Clapp-Channing N, Lee KL, Moss AJ. Survival of patients receiving a primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in clinical practice vs clinical trials. JAMA. 2013 Jan 2;309(1):55-62. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.157182.

    PubMed 23280225

  • Strauss DG, Poole JE, Wagner GS, Selvester RH, Miller JM, Anderson J, Johnson G, McNulty SE, Mark DB, Lee KL, Bardy GH, Wu KC. An ECG index of myocardial scar enhances prediction of defibrillator shocks: an analysis of the Sudden Cardiac Death in Heart Failure Trial. Heart Rhythm. 2011 Jan;8(1):38-45. doi: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2010.09.071. Epub 2010 Sep 25.

    PubMed 20884379

  • Packer DL, Prutkin JM, Hellkamp AS, Mitchell LB, Bernstein RC, Wood F, Boehmer JP, Carlson MD, Frantz RP, McNulty SE, Rogers JG, Anderson J, Johnson GW, Walsh MN, Poole JE, Mark DB, Lee KL, Bardy GH. Impact of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, amiodarone, and placebo on the mode of death in stable patients with heart failure: analysis from the sudden cardiac death in heart failure trial. Circulation. 2009 Dec 1;120(22):2170-6. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.853689. Epub 2009 Nov 16.

    PubMed 19917887

  • Levy WC, Lee KL, Hellkamp AS, Poole JE, Mozaffarian D, Linker DT, Maggioni AP, Anand I, Poole-Wilson PA, Fishbein DP, Johnson G, Anderson J, Mark DB, Bardy GH. Maximizing survival benefit with primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator therapy in a heart failure population. Circulation. 2009 Sep 8;120(10):835-42. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.108.816884. Epub 2009 Aug 24.

    PubMed 19704100

  • Olshansky B, Poole JE, Johnson G, Anderson J, Hellkamp AS, Packer D, Mark DB, Lee KL, Bardy GH; SCD-HeFT Investigators. Syncope predicts the outcome of cardiomyopathy patients: analysis of the SCD-HeFT study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Apr 1;51(13):1277-82. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2007.11.065.

    PubMed 18371559

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 3 study testing amiodarone and defibrillators, implantable in people with Arrhythmia and Cardiovascular Diseases, run by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 13 May 2016. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 3 studies compare the treatment with the current standard treatment or a placebo in a large group, to confirm how well it works and watch for side effects.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00000609, which also lists 11 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 13 May 2016.

AzTrials uses cookies for analytics and advertising. You can accept or reject them; the site works either way. Privacy Policy.

Free account

Log in to keep searching

You’ve used your 3 free searches. AzTrials is free: log in or create a free account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in