Telemedicine-supported prehabilitation to prepare heart failure patients for cardiac surgery
Official title: Prospective, Randomized Open Label Trial of Telemedically Assisted Optimization for Heart Failure Patients Before Cardiac Surgery to Improve Perioperative Outcome
Run by Medical University Innsbruck · NCT07391683 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This trial will see if a telemedicine-supported prehabilitation program helps people with heart failure and high NT-proBNP who are having elective cardiac surgery have fewer complications around the time of surgery.
Quick facts
| Study type | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Ages | 18 Years and up |
| Sex | All |
| Enrollment | 162 (estimated) |
| Sponsor | Medical University Innsbruck Academic / other |
| Locations | 1 site (Innsbruck, Tyrol) |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Started | February 16, 2026 |
| Main results expected | April 16, 2029 |
| Study ends | January 1, 2034 |
| Registry record updated | February 18, 2026 |
| Trial ID | NCT07391683 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
Is this trial a fit for you?
✓Likely a good fit
Adults (≥18) with heart failure who are planned for elective cardiac surgery, have NT‑proBNP ≥1500 ng/L, can use telemedicine or have support to do so, and can provide informed consent are ideal candidates.
✕Probably not a fit
Patients on chronic dialysis, those planned for heart transplant or durable LVAD, those unable to use or engage with telemedicine, or those with severe neuropsychiatric conditions are unlikely to benefit from this program.
A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.
What this trial studies
This interventional program enrolls adult heart failure patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery who have elevated NT‑proBNP, and delivers a structured, multidisciplinary PREPARE‑HF telemedicine disease management package before surgery. The program combines remote monitoring, medication optimization, patient education, and tailored prehabilitation interventions coordinated by cardiology and cardiac surgery teams. Outcomes include perioperative complications, need for ECMO or renal replacement therapy, ICU and hospital length of stay, and short-term mortality. The trial is single-center and uses biomarker-driven selection to focus resources on patients at higher risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could reduce perioperative complications and shorten ICU and hospital stays, lowering the need for ECMO or dialysis.
How similar studies have gone: Telemedical disease management programs have shown benefit in outpatient heart failure care, but applying such programs specifically as preoperative prehabilitation is a novel and underexplored approach.
Who can join: the full rules
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Indication for elective cardiac surgery in the Heart team * NTproBNP ≥ 1500 ng/L * ≥ 18 years willing to participate in trial * Written informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Neuropsychiatric disorders / illnesses (e.g. drug addiction, alcohol abuse) that do not allow adherent participation in the study * No sufficient ability to measure and transfer data or existing support in the social environment * no sufficient ability to communicate (language skills, eyesight, hearing) * Pregnancy * Chronic kidney disease requiring dialysis * Planed procedure: heart transplantation (HTX), implant of left ventricular mechanical assist devices (L-VAD)
Where it's running
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Medical University of Innsbruck - Department of Cardiology & Department of Cardiac Surgery
Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria Recruiting
Study contacts
- Principal investigator: Can Gollmann-Tepeköylü, Prof. — Medical University of Innsbruck - Department of cardiac surgery
- Study coordinator: Can Gollmann-Tepeköylü, Prof.
- Email: can.gt@i-med.ac.at
- Phone: +4351250480466
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How to take part
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
- Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.