Routine Validation and Reproducibility Testing of Laboratory Assays and Research Techniques Used for Endocrine, Cardiometabolic, and Musculoskeletal Disorder Research (VALD)
A Trial Comparing High-Flow Nasal Cannula Versus Noninvasive Ventilation on Reintubation and Post-Extubation Respiratory Failure in High-Risk Patients With Systolic Heart Failure
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HS235 Study in Overweight and Obese Participants With Combined Pre and Post-Capillary Pulmonary Hypertension Due to Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction
What is heart failure?
Heart failure is a long term condition where the heart muscle cannot keep up with the body's needs. Blood and fluid back up, which is why common symptoms are shortness of breath, tiredness, and swelling in the legs. Doctors divide it into two main forms based on ejection fraction, the share of blood the heart pushes out with each beat. In HFrEF (reduced ejection fraction), the heart pumps too weakly. In HFpEF (preserved ejection fraction), it pumps normally but is too stiff to fill properly. More than half of all heart failure today is HFpEF, and it is the form that is growing fastest. Common causes and risk factors include high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, obesity, and chronic kidney disease.
A few facts show why research in this field matters right now. Heart failure contributed to more than 425,000 US deaths in 2022, about 45% of all cardiovascular deaths, and unlike most major diseases, its death rate has been rising since 2012. HFpEF had no proven medicines at all until this decade: the first drugs with clear benefit arrived in 2021 and 2022, and the newest, finerenone, was approved in July 2025. And a striking treatment gap remains: fewer than 1 in 7 eligible patients with the reduced form receive all four recommended medicines.
Types of heart failure clinical trials
Heart failure clinical trials cover a wide range of research, not just new medicines. They include studies of drugs, implanted devices, exercise programs, and remote monitoring, and each type asks a different question about how to help the heart work better and keep people out of the hospital.
Treatment trials
These test new medicines or new combinations of existing ones. Because four drug classes are already proven to help people with reduced ejection fraction, most new drug trials add a study medicine on top of standard care rather than replacing it. A large share of current treatment trials focus on HFpEF, the form with a normal pumping number, where far fewer options exist. Some of the most active studies right now test weight loss medicines in people who have both heart failure and obesity.
Device and procedure trials
Not every heart failure study involves a pill. These trials test implanted devices that send electrical pulses to strengthen the heart's contraction, pumps that support circulation in advanced disease, valve repair procedures, and sensors that track fluid buildup before symptoms appear. Device research concentrates in the more advanced stages, which means late stage disease often opens doors rather than closing them.
Prevention trials
These focus on people at risk but not yet symptomatic, Stage A and Stage B in the ACC/AHA system. Since roughly 1 in 3 US adults has risk factors and a quarter to a third already show early heart changes without symptoms, prevention research asks whether treating high blood pressure, diabetes, or obesity earlier can stop heart failure from developing at all.
Rehabilitation and lifestyle trials
These test structured exercise programs, cardiac rehab approaches, nutrition strategies, and support programs that help people stay active long term. Exercise has real evidence behind it in heart failure, and these studies work on the harder question of how to help people keep it up over months and years.
Monitoring and care delivery trials
Some studies do not test a new treatment at all. They test better ways to deliver treatments that already work, remote monitoring at home, pharmacist led medicine adjustment, telehealth follow up. This matters because only about 1 in 7 eligible patients currently receives all four recommended medicines, so closing that gap is its own research problem.
The stages of heart failure, and why they matter for trials
Doctors use two systems side by side. The ACC/AHA stages describe how far the disease has developed:
- Stage A. At risk: no heart changes yet, but risk factors like high blood pressure or diabetes are present. About 1 in 3 US adults is here.
- Stage B. Pre heart failure: the heart shows changes, but there are no symptoms yet. Roughly 24 to 34% of US adults fall in this group.
- Stage C. Symptomatic heart failure: shortness of breath, fatigue, swelling.
- Stage D. Advanced heart failure: symptoms despite full treatment.
The NYHA class (I to IV) describes how much symptoms limit daily activity right now, and trials name it constantly in eligibility criteria ("NYHA class II to III"). Knowing your stage, class, and ejection fraction tells you at a glance which studies fit you. Advanced disease does not close the door: device and pump studies are built specifically for Stage D patients.
Do heart failure trial participants get paid?
Some studies offer compensation for time and travel, and study related care is typically provided at no cost to participants. Compensation varies by trial and is always described during the informed consent process before you agree to anything.
Curious whether clinical trials pay participants? Here's how compensation actually works.
Who can participate in heart failure trials?
Heart failure studies usually recruit around three things. First, your ejection fraction: most trials enroll either reduced (HFrEF) or preserved (HFpEF) ejection fraction, and the number from your echocardiogram decides which studies fit. Second, your symptom level, usually described with the NYHA class from I to IV. Third, your treatment history and other conditions, since many HFpEF studies now focus on people who also live with obesity, diabetes, or kidney disease. Some studies enroll people recently hospitalized for heart failure, others exclude them. Studies increasingly welcome older adults and groups with the highest heart failure burden, including Black patients, in whom mortality has risen fastest. Eligibility always varies by study.
How to enroll in a clinical trial for heart failure
Enrolling in a heart failure clinical trial through our platform is a straightforward process. Here's how to get started:
Identify your trial. Use the search bar or filter options to find heart failure studies that match what you are looking for, whether that is a drug trial, a device study, or an exercise program.
Select your preferred location. Enter your city or state in the filter bar on the left side of the page to see studies enrolling near you.
Explore study details. Click "Learn More" on any study to see its objectives, procedures, and full eligibility criteria, including which ejection fraction range and NYHA class it enrolls.
Complete the health profile. Click "Get started" to begin the 5-step application. It helps to have three things ready: your most recent ejection fraction, your NYHA class if you know it, and your current medicine list. Those three answers decide eligibility for most heart failure studies.
Submit the application. Once you send it in, a clinical trial coordinator reviews it and contacts you about whether you may qualify. Nothing is decided until you have gone through informed consent, and participation is voluntary at every step.