Symptom-driven Referral for Evaluation of Chronic Thromboembolic Disease or Pulmonary Hypertension in Patients With Previous Acute Pulmonary Embolism

Study Purpose

Aim: To investigate if a symptom driven referral for chronic thrombosis in the lungs after acute pulmonary embolism is better than the current approach. Background: A number of patients with chronic thrombosis in the lungs after acute pulmonary embolism have dyspnea and reduced functional capacity without elevated pulmonary arterial pressure at rest (CTED). However, current guidelines for follow-up after acute pulmonary embolism will miss all patients with CTED, as referral for further examination is based on elevated pulmonary arterial pressure on echocardiography. Thus, the prevalence of CTED is unknown. The hypothesis is, that a symptom-driven referral of patients with previous acute pulmonary embolism is more sensitive in diagnosing CTED than the current approach. Methods and materials: Patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism in Region Midt (approx. 350 per year) will be screened for non-recovery or persistent pulmonary embolism related symptoms during their 3-6 months follow up at their local outpatient clinic. If the patient has persistent symptoms they will be referred to a scintigraphy. If CTED is suspected from the scintigraphy, the patient will be referred for full CTED work-up. The investigators expect to screen 300 patients for persistent symptoms with an expected study time of 3 years.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms	No
Study Type An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.	Interventional
Eligible Ages	18 Years - 79 Years
Gender	All

More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

- Acute PE diagnosed by CT or V/Q-scan within the last year.

- Non-recovery or persistent PE related symptoms assessed by a MRC breathlessness score or WHO functional class.

- Age >= 18 and < 80.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Contraindications or unable to perform 6 minutes walk distance (6MWD) and/or cardiopulmonary exercise test.

- Contraindications to CT pulmonary angiography.

- Congestive heart failure (LVEF <40%).

- COPD or restrictive lung disease, severe or worse (FEV1 <50% and >=1 exacerbation causing hospital admission per year (GOLD grade 3 and 4 class C and D)).

- Lactating or pregnant.

- Unable or unwilling to provide written informed consent.

- Paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation.

- Other known cause of PE related symptoms.

Trial Details

Trial ID: This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.	NCT03729492
Phase Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans. Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data. Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs. Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.	N/A
Lead Sponsor The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.	University of Aarhus
Principal Investigator The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.	Asger Andersen, MD, PhD
Principal Investigator Affiliation	Aarhus University Hospital
Agency Class Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.	Other
Overall Status	Not yet recruiting
Countries
Conditions The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.	Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Disease

Arms & Interventions

Arms

Other: CTEPH/CTED work-up

Interventions

Diagnostic Test: - CTEPH/CTED work-up

Patients diagnosed with acute pulmonary embolism (PE) in Region Midt (approx. 350 per year) will be screened for non-recovery or persistent PE related symptoms during their 3-6 months follow up at their local outpatient clinic. If the patient has persistent symptoms they will be referred to a V/Q-scan. If a V/Q mismatch is present, the patient will be referred to a full work-up for CTEPH/CTED.