Safety, Usability, and Performance of a Wireless Left Atrial Pressure Monitoring System in Patients with Heart Failure: The VECTOR-HF Trial

AIMS: In heart failure (HF), implantable haemodynamic monitoring devices have been shown to optimize therapy, anticipating clinical decompensation and preventing hospitalization. Direct left-sided haemodynamic sensors offer theoretical benefits beyond pulmonary artery pressure monitoring systems. We evaluated the safety, usability, and performance of a novel left atrial pressure (LAP) monitoring system in HF patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: The VECTOR-HF study (NCT03775161) was a first-in-human, prospective, multicentre, single-arm, clinical trial enrolling 30 patients with HF. The device consisted of an interatrial positioned leadless sensor, able to transmit LAP data wirelessly. After 3 months, a right heart catheterization was performed to correlate mean pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) with simultaneous mean LAP obtained from the device. Remote LAP measurements were then used to guide patient management. The miniaturized device was successfully implanted in all 30 patients, without acute major adverse cardiac and neurological events (MACNE). At 3 months, freedom from short-term MACNE was 97%. Agreement between sensor-calculated LAP and PCWP was consistent, with a mean difference of -0.22 ± 4.92 mmHg, the correlation coefficient and the Lin's concordance correlation coefficient values were equal to 0.79 (p < 0.0001) and 0.776 (95% confidence interval 0.582-0.886), respectively. Preliminary experience with V-LAP-based HF management was associated with significant improvements in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class (32% of patients reached NYHA class II at 6 months, p < 0.005; 60% of patients at 12 months, p < 0.005) and 6-min walk test distance (from 244.59 ± 119.59 m at baseline to 311.78 ± 129.88 m after 6 months, p < 0.05, and 343.95 ± 146.15 m after 12 months, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The V-LAP™ monitoring system proved to be generally safe and provided a good correlation with invasive PCWP. Initial evidence also suggests possible improvement in HF clinical symptoms.