Boston Scientific ($BSX) has enrolled the first patients in the randomized, international NECTAR-HF feasibility study looking at the preliminary safety and efficacy of chronic vagal nerve stimulation in heart failure patients. The study will evaluate 96 patients with vagal nerve stimulator implants at European centers.
Congestive heart failure affects nearly 23 million people worldwide. And despite advances in pharmacological and device therapy, heart failure remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. and Europe.
"Stimulating the vagus nerve in the cervical region is commonly used to treat epilepsy and depression; however, promising preclinical data show that this therapy may also help a large population of heart failure patients who are currently not candidates for heart failure device therapy," said Principal Investigator and Steering Committee Chairman Faiez Zannad.
- see the Boston Sci statement