The NYU Cardiac & Vascular Institute conducts a significant number of clinical trials and investigations related to cardiac and vascular disease. Such clinical research allows a variety of physicians from various cardiac and vascular disciplines to evaluate new forms of treatment, and to ensure that patients have the opportunity to receive the latest state-of-the-art care.

For more information about clinical trials at NYU, visit Research at the NYU School of Medicine .

Arrhythmias
Staff at the Heart Rhythm Center participate in many clinical trials to assess new treatments with the potential to improve each patient's outcome. Such studies include those evaluating new applications of pacemakers and defibrillators (including biventricular pacing), as well as trials assessing new ablation catheters.

Cardiac Rehabilitation Research
Clinical research at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center is designed to evaluate and improve current treatments. Psychosocial research into the efficacy of psychological and social support in cardiac prevention and rehabilitation is also under way.

Cardiothoracic Surgery
The clinical research of NYU Medical Center's cardiothoracic surgeons includes trials for new surgical procedures and the development and application of advanced surgical devices and technologies. In particular, our surgeons have made significant contributions toward the development of minimally invasive approaches for cardiac surgery and the amelioration of the body's response to cardiopulmonary bypass, or the heart-lung machine, with the use of biological coatings. Today they are also learning to use a novel robotic surgical system to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures, particularly those involving repair of the mitral valve.

Interventional Cardiology
NYU Medical Center continues to be a leading center for cardiac catheterization and interventional cardiology by helping to set the national standard for catheter-based care of coronary artery disease. Our investigators are studying catheter-based and pharmacological strategies to optimize the treatment of patients with myocardial infarction. Interventional cardiologists and diabetologists at NYU have also been working to improve pharmacologic and revascularization treatments for diabetic patients. NYU interventional cardiologists are also participating in national trials to improve the outcome of patients undergoing coronary stenting.

Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiologists and endovascular surgeons are performing trials to evaluate new means of revascularizing occluded blood vessels. They are also assessing novel treatment approaches for cancer, including embolization for primary and metastatic liver tumors.

Noninvasive Cardiology
Physicians in NYU's Noninvasive Cardiology Laboratory are leaders in the field of echocardiography, conducting research that has helped expand the clinical applications of this technology. They showed that up to 25% of strokes are due to embolic events associated with aortic atherosclerosis. Our physicians pioneered the used of transesophageal echocardiography to evaluate the cause of strokes and to assist surgeons performing minimally invasive heart procedures. Today NYU is one of a handful of centers in the country performing substernal epicardial echocardiogrpahy, which allows doctors to image the heart through a specialized drainage tube left in the chest after surgery, as a means of more closely monitoring patients most at risk for postoperative complications.

Pediatric Cardiology
The Pediatric Cardiology Program engages in a variety of clinical research projects. Major areas of interest include cardiovascular pharmacology, management of heart failure, treatment of pediatric hypertension, and assessment of health-related quality of life in pediatric patients with heart disease.

Vascular Surgery
Clinical research within the Division of Vascular Surgery remains a high priority, with active areas of research in carotid artery disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and lower extremity arterial occlusive disease.