Millstone Township

Researchers are evaluating whether the combination of vicadrostat BI 690517 and empagliflozin helps adults with heart failure who have symptoms and a left ventricular ejection fraction LVEF of 40% or more. This phase III study is designed to compare the effects of vicadrostatempagliflozin tablets versus placeboempagliflozin tablets on heart failure outcomes. The study aims to understand if this combined treatment improves health and reduces heart-related events. Participants are randomly assigned to one of two groups one group takes vicadrostat plus empagliflozin tablets once a day, and the other takes placebo plus empagliflozin tablets once a day. The study has no fixed duration and continues as long as participants benefit and tolerate the treatment. Throughout the study, participants visit their doctors regularly for health checks, and study staff may also contact them by phone to monitor well-being and any side effects. During the study, researchers monitor participants health through regular doctor visits and phone contacts. They collect data on heart-related events such as cardiovascular death, hospitalizations for heart failure, and urgent visits for heart failure over up to 42 months. Participants also answer questions about their symptoms and well-being. The study carefully tracks safety and treatment tolerance while gathering information to determine if the combined treatment helps people with heart failure.

Researchers are comparing the rates of surgical and minimally invasive interventions, as well as any harms, in Medicare beneficiaries treated with the MILD procedure versus those treated with interspinous process decompression IPD for lumbar spinal stenosis with neurogenic claudication. This observational study uses Medicare claims data to follow patients for 24 months after their initial procedure starting from January 1, 2017. The purpose is to evaluate outcomes between these two types of procedures without requiring prior patient enrollment or consent. The study includes two groups patients who received MILD, which is a percutaneous image-guided lumbar decompression performed under fluoroscopic guidance through a dorsal approach to the spine, and patients who received IPD, a different device-based decompression procedure. Data on reoperations and complications will be collected for both groups over a 24-month follow-up period using Medicare claims. Enrollment continues until the sponsor decides to stop. Participants involvement is passive as the study uses existing Medicare claims data. Researchers will monitor rates of harms related to the initial procedure and subsequent surgical or minimally invasive interventions over two years. No direct patient visits or interventions are conducted, and the study is exempt from institutional review board oversight. The total study duration extends to December 2026, covering cases treated since early 2017.