West of England recruits world's first participant to new cardiovascular trial

Last month, the Research and Innovation team at Great Western Hospital (GWH) became the first in the world to trial a new method of pacemakers. In a bid to improve the lives of patients following a heart condition, the team recruited the world's first participant to the Conduction System Pacing Optimized Therapy (CSPOT) Study.

The trial aims to find the best way of setting up pacemakers to ensure they meet the unique needs of the patient. Traditionally the pacemaker has been set to one of two ways, either looking at the function in the bottom pumping chambers of the heart or to the whole system controlling the rhythm. In this new method, the team is looking to see if combining the two methods is more effective.

Dr Badrinathan Chandrasekaran and Dr Paul Foley, Consultant Cardiologists at GWH said: “It is such a privilege to be involved in such life-saving research, and even more so to know that we are the first Trust in the world to actively recruit to such an important trial.

“The first patient was fitted with a pacemaker last month, and the results of the trial will be monitored over the patient’s continued recovery. In theory, the pacemaker will make the pumping of the heart more co-ordinated and may even improve the heart function. The patient will hopefully have fewer symptoms of heart failure and be less likely to be admitted into hospital with fluid retention.

“Research is a real team effort, with input from a range of clinical and non-clinical colleagues and, of course, our willing patients who step forward to take part in clinical trials. We are looking forward to seeing the results of the CSPOT trial, in around 22 months, which may change the way we can help patients with failing hearts.”