Each year, 26.500 people are diagnosed with heart failure in The Netherlands. New insights and better treatment have resulted in a substantial decrease in mortality. Still, a fraction of patients seem unaffected by the current treatment methods. The DCVA invests in research that could lead to better treatment options for these treatment-resistant forms of heart failure.
How to treat the untreatable?
The ARENA PRIME study focuses on two forms of treatment-resistant heart failure: Dilated cardiomyopathy and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. In the recently concluded ARENA study, the researchers found that some patients with heritable heart disease have flaws in the cardiac RNA that induce the deterioration of the heart.
In this new study subtitled: Towards Personalised Medicine in the Clinic: Novel RNA Therapies aimed At heritable forms of treatment-resistant Heart Failure, they aim to use an experimental approach where RNA is specifically engineered and transported to the myocardium by state-of-the-art delivery-technologies. In Parallel, they will use novel high-end sequencing to further explore the mechanisms underlying heart failure.