Abbott's TEAM-HF Trial Aims Early Intervention in High-Risk Heart Failure

Abbott introduced a unique clinical trial aimed at enhancing results in patients with worsening heart failure who may benefit from advanced treatment choices. The TEAM-HF study aims to include a maximum of 850 participants from 75 locations globally and will utilize Abbott's CardioMEMS HF System to monitor pulmonary artery pressures (PAP). This will help in accurately pinpointing advanced heart failure patients with high mortality risk who may benefit from an early intervention with the HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for better outcomes.

Heart failure is a gradual disease where the heart is unable to pump blood effectively, leading to signs like tiredness, difficulty breathing, and swollen ankles. 

"The goal of the TEAM-HF trial is simple in concept but critical to the future care of patients. We want to break down patient care silos, offering a unified effort to not only improve the diagnosis of advanced heart failure, but also enable rapid access to life saving heart pumps. This study aims to take the guess work out of deciding when a patient has reached the ideal time for LVAD implementation," said Jennifer Cowger, M.D., medical director of mechanical circulatory support and section head of the advanced heart failure program at Detroit-based Henry Ford Health, and one of the national co-principal investigators for the TEAM-HF trial. "Too many patients are not receiving timely access to this life-saving therapy and are needlessly dying of heart failure. The importance of patient access to multidisciplinary heart failure care is embodied in the trial acronym - TEAM-HF - and we feel this study will be instrumental in helping providers identify patients who may benefit from a heart pump earlier in their care journey."