One thing cardiologists are particularly good at it is coming up with great acronyms for trials.

Somehow, Valsartan, captopril, or both in myocardial infarction complicated by heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction, or both became VALIANT – that’s pretty impressive.

But trying to learn and keep up with cardiology literature can often become a dizzying array of acronyms – what’s the difference between CAPRICORN and COPERNICUS again?

CHF Trials is the answer to that challenge, at least for an extensive literature base in heart failure management.

Developed by Dr. David Majure, a heart failure specialist at UCSF, the app aims to organize and summarize all of the must-know clinical trials in heart failure.

This app is a universal app that works on the iPad and iPhone. For reference, I’ve included an iPad screenshot below. The rest of the review is on the iPhone.

On opening the app, we get right down to business with a list of clinical trials. The navigation bar at the bottom of the screen includes the option to view the list sorted by subject, ejection fraction, and NYHA (New York Hear Association) classification. The last two options include the ability to view studies focused on acute heart failure as well as a more tab that we’ll check out in a moment.

The studies are sorted nicely in the “Subject” section by medication classes (ACEI/ARB, beta blockers, and so on); other useful subject categories include devices, telemonitoring, and atrial fibrillation. Even more specific categories (iron therapy, counseling, PA-catheter guided therapy) are also included.

We’ll delve into one of the most recent trials focusing on the CardioMEMs device – CHAMPION. Each study is broken down in the following way: Purpose, Important Points, Design, Inclusion Criteria, Exclusion Criteria, Procedures, Size and Follow-Up, Baseline Characteristics, Baseline Therapy, Primary Outcome, Secondary Outcome(s), Funding, ACC/AHA Guidelines, European Society of Cardiology (guidelines also), and References.

 

 

As we can see, the analysis is incredibly comprehensive! Of note, the top-right button links to the PubMed listing for the trial.

I particularly like the fact that the funding source and methodology are highlighted – too often, these two aspects of a trial are left out and yet are particularly critical to a thoughtful assessment of the results of the study. Dr. Majure points out in the “Info” screen (accessible via the “i” button shown on the first screenshot) that the opinions expressed in the Important Points section are his own unless referenced. As a heart failure specialist, though, his critical appraisal is certainly appreciated.

Through the More screen, we can also access these studies indexed by device type, trial name, date of publication, and recent updates.

Price:

  • $2.99

Platform:

  • Universal app for iOS

Likes:

  • Very comprehensive review of a large library of heart failure trials
  • Library of trials is sorted in numerous ways, making it easy to find trials

Areas for improvement:

  • Future updates should consider adding a search feature
  • The iPad screen real-estate could be better utilized, perhaps by splitting the screen in landscape
  • A helpful feature would be collapsing headings within each paper – that would make it easier to navigate the extensive information on each trial

Conclusion:

  • This app is a must-have for medical students on a cardiology service or in the CCU, internal medicine residents interested in cardiology, cardiology fellows, and cardiologists in general (unless you’re already a heart failure expert).

Find this app on iTunes here!