PETALING JAYA: A joint research between Malaysia and Germany, aimed at improving treatment for heart diseases was announced last night.
The SCB DE-NOVO study will assist health professionals in making better decisions on providing heart patients with the most effective treatment.
Prof Datuk Dr Wan Azman Wan Ahmad, a senior consultant Cardiologist at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), said this study will be of great significance as no previous study has been performed to directly compare the efficacy and safety of the two coated catheters in de novo stenosis (lesions that have not been treated with angioplasty or stenting).
“The study will be conducted across six hospitals in Malaysia involving 70 Malaysian patients.
“Of the total, 35 patients will be randomly assigned to the paclitaxel-coated balloon catheter group, while another 35 will be assigned to the sirolimus-coated balloon catheter group,” said Wan Azman, who is also the Head of the Cardiac Catherization Lab at UMMC.
In Germany, the study will be conducted in various different institutes, involving 70 patients.
The study will be headed by Professor Bruno Scheller, Consultant Cardiologist of The University Hospital of Saarland, Homburg, Germany.
Below is the list of the Malaysian cardiologists from six hospitals who will be involved as principal investigators in the study:
>> Datuk Dr Rosli Mohd Ali, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, at the Cardiac Vascular Sentral Kuala Lumpur.
>> Professor Datuk Dr Wan Azman Wan Ahmad, Head of cardiac Catherization Lab, and senior consultant cardiologist, at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).
>> Datuk Dr Amin Ariff Nuruddin, Head of the cardiology department and senior consultant and cardiologist, at the National Heart Institute (IJN).
>> Dr Muhammad Ali Sheikh Abdul Kader, head of cardiology department and consultant cardiologist, at the Penang Hospital.
>> Dr Liew Houng Bang, head of the cardiology department and consultant cardiologist Hospital Queen Elizabeth II, Sabah.
>> Dr Ong Tiong Kam, Head of Cardiology Department and senior consultant cardiologist Sarawak Heart centre.
“Clinical trials are necessary to learn about the safety, treatment efficacy and to gain further insights about a device. In the planned study, we will use the devices that already have the CE marking which means they have been approved for clinical use and are routinely used for treatment,“ said Azman during a conference at the Sheraton in Petaling Jaya last night.
