Home Diseases and Conditions Congestive Heart Failure 

Congestive Heart Failure 

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Development Stage

Early Stage

Focused ultrasound research is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Clinical Trials

Focused ultrasound for this condition is being researched in clinical trials.

International Approval

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites.

FDA Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved focus ultrasound for this condition. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating sites.

Early Stage

Clinical Trials

International

FDA Approved

Focused ultrasound research for this condition is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Focused Ultrasound Therapy

Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive, therapeutic technology with the potential to improve the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on targets deep in the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue.

How it Works
Focused ultrasound produces precise thermal ablation of the infarcted region to shrink the size of the infarcted region. The goal is to achieve the right amount of tissue reduction to offset the post-myocardial tissue expansion that is typically seen. A recent publication showed a decrease in tissue strain in the affected region. Additional research will likely be needed prior to clinical trials.

Advantages
The primary options for treatment of CHF include medication but may also include invasive surgery.

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery with less risk of complications – such as surgical wound healing or infection – at a lower cost. Focused ultrasound can also reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue, and it can be repeated, if necessary.

Clinical Trials

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound CHF treatments.

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/. 

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement

Focused ultrasound treatment for CHF is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies.

Notable Papers

Zhong S, Cai Q, Zhong L, Wang Y, Liang F, Deng Z, Li S, Zha D, Qiu W, Wu J. Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ameliorates Ischemic Heart Failure Related to the Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway. J Ultrasound Med. 2023 Feb;42(2):463-475. doi: 10.1002/jum.16140. Epub 2022 Nov 29.

Choi YA, Jung JY, Park JW, Lee MS, Kim TK, Lee SGW, Lee YH, Kim KH. Association between focused cardiac ultrasound and time to furosemide administration in acute heart failure. Am J Emerg Med. 2022 Jul 16;59:156-161. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2022.07.020.

Chou YY, Ward JL, Barron LZ, Murphy SD, Tropf MA, Lisciandro GR, Yuan L, Mochel JP, DeFrancesco TC. Focused ultrasound of the caudal vena cava in dogs with cavitary effusions or congestive heart failure: A prospective, observational study. PLoS One. 2021 May 28;16(5):e0252544. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252544. eCollection 2021.

Chaudhury A, Wanek A, Ponnalagu D, Singh H, Kohut A. Use of Speckle Tracking Echocardiography to Detect Induced Regional Strain Changes in the Murine Myocardium by Acoustic Radiation Force. J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2021 Feb 10. doi: 10.4250/jcvi.2020.0148.

Click here for additional references from PubMed.