A Phase 2 interventional study of Stratified medicine - Microvascular dysfunction and eplerenone therapy, tablets and Stratification and standard care in Myocardial Infarction, Acute, Myocardial Infarction With Nonobstructive Coronary Arteries and Myocardial Injury, sponsored by NHS National Waiting Times Centre Board. Recruiting at 2 sites in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-16.
Sponsored by NHS National Waiting Times Centre Board · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
Patients with heart attack or heart injury are tested (angiogram) for blockages in their arteries. Patients may develop heart problems caused by damage to small (microvascular) blood vessels. Eplerenone, a mineralocorticoid receptor-selective antagonist, reduces blood vessel injury and is used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure.
Aim: to test the use of eplerenone in patients with heart attack/heart injury an no obstructive coronary arteries and small vessel problems (coronary microvascular dysfunction).
Patients admitted to hospitals in the West of Scotland (2.5 million) and referred for invasive management to the Golden Jubilee and Hairmyres hospitals because of a suspected heart attack heart will be invited to participate into a registry-based clinical trial. Screening, enrolment and verbal, informed consent will be obtained during the angiogram then written consent on the ward. Small vessel disease will be assessed using a 'diagnostic' guidewire during the standard angiogram. People with small vessel problems will be invited to participate in a clinical trial of usual care or eplerenone. Coronary microvascular dysfunction is defined as an index of microvascular resistance ≥25. Coronary flow reserve (CFR abnormal \<2.0), microvascular resistance reserve ratio (MRR, abnormal \<2.5), and resistance reserve ratio (RRR abnormal \<2.0), measured simultaneously with IMR, are predefined parameters of interest.
Patients will be allocated into one of the 3 groups:
The primary outcome for the trial will be reduced heart injury (biomarkers) in patients with microvascular disease. We will also test heart function (MRI scan) at enrolment and at six months. All patients (Groups 1, 2 and 3) will have an angiogram. Standard blood tests will be collected during the hospital stay, and then again at 1 and 6 months. Other outcomes include questionnaires (health status). We will gather information on longer-term health outcomes (hospitalisation, death) using confidential electronic record linkage. We will ask for permission to store blood samples for future research.
The research will improve scientific knowledge about eplerenone therapy in this patient group. The study will create a repository of clinical samples and images which will provide vital data for studies of endotypes of myocardial infarction or injury with no obstructive coronary arteries.
Background: Myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA) involves vascular dysfunction, prognosis is impaired and specific treatments are lacking. Mineralocorticoid antagonist (MRA) therapy attenuates left ventricular remodelling in patients with acute MI without heart failure e.g. REMINDER trial.
Stratified medicine is defined by the Medical Research Council Framework (2015) as the identification of key sub-groups of patients within a heterogeneous population; these being distinguishable groups with differing mechanisms of disease, or particular responses to treatments. Stratification can be used to improve mechanistic understanding of disease processes and enable: the identification of new targets for treatments; the development of biomarkers for disease risk, diagnosis, progression and response to treatment; and treatments to be tested and applied in the most appropriate patient groups.
Objective: To implement stratified medicine in MINOCA and nonischemic myocardial injury.
Primary Hypothesis of the registry-based diagnostic study: In patients with suspected MINOCA, elevated coronary microvascular resistance defined by index of microvascular resistance ≥25 mmHg·s, is common and quantifiable, identifying a clinically relevant endotype suitable for stratified care.
Primary hypothesis (Trial): In patients with an initial working diagnosis of MINOCA, early risk stratification by coronary microvascular dysfunction (index of microvascular resistance (IMR) ≥25) coupled with cardio-protective MRA therapy using eplerenone limits myocardial damage reflected by changes in N-terminal (NT)-pro hormone BNP (NT-proBNP).
Secondary hypotheses for predefined mechanistic, clinical and exploratory outcomes in the registry and nested, randomised trial will also be explored.
Overall aim: To undertake a developmental clinical study, clarify evidence-gaps and provide training in academic cardiology.
Design A prospective, registry-based, diagnostic study and nested, randomized, open-label, blinded-endpoint (PROBE) basket trial .
The registry involves a prospective diagnostic study with the aims of endotyping patients through a standardized protocol of invasive and non-invasive diagnostic evaluations. The nested randomized trial evaluates stratified therapy with eplerenone in patients with invasive evidence of coronary microvascular dysfunction, defined as IMR (≥25), and no demonstrable alternative non-ischemic etiology.
Procedures Step-1: Screening in during coronary angiography of patients with acute myocardial infarction including suspected MINOCA without heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40%; Step-2: Guidewire-based measurement of microvascular resistance (culprit artery or if unknown, the left anterior descending coronary artery. Registry population, n=300); Step-3: Stratify subgroup with -increased vascular risk (IMR≥25) (Trial, n=150 eligible for MRA, informed consent); Step-4: Randomise this higher-risk group: eplerenone 25-50 mg daily for 6 months or standard care. Coronary physiology parameters including coronary flow reserve (CFR abnormal \<2.0), microvascular resistance reserve ratio (MRR, abnormal \<2.5), the resistance reserve ratio (RRR abnormal \<2.0) and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure will be prospectively measured during the index invasive procedure. A diagnostic algorithm will be followed in line with the 2023 Acute Coronary Syndrome guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology (PMID: 37622654). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging (MRI) will be undertaken as soon as possible after diagnosis. For participants who are straified for participation in the randomized trial, CMR imaging with adenosine stress/rest myocardial perfusion imaging will be undertaken at 6-months. They will also be invited to participate in a brain MRI substudy ('heart-brain') including to assess for systemic features of small vesel disease.
Outcomes: Primary: within-subject change in NT-proBNP by group; Secondary: left ventricular ejection fraction; left ventricular volumes; patient reported outcome measures (PROMS).
Value: Evidence-synthesis on stratified medicine for MINOCA.
In order to assess the natural history of clinical endotypes, and effects of the trial intervention, electronic health record linkage of vital status, episodes of healthcare and medication use will be assessed during follow-up of up to 20-years. The study design has benefitted from patient and public involvement (PPI). The study is overseen by a Trial Steering Committee including an indendent Chair, a lived experience representative, a sponsor representative and the lead investigators.
29 studies on the registry are indexed under MINOCA; 18 are open to participants now.
Browse MINOCA studies →NHS National Waiting Times Centre Board is the lead sponsor of 19 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.
Compared within MINOCA, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Myocardial Infarction. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria (trial):
Exclusion Criteria (registry):
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.
The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Childbearing potential
Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).
Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraception
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
QT and QTc
On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.
The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients with suspected MINOCA and an index of microvascular resistance (IMR) greater than or equal to 25 will be randomised to receive eplerenone (starting dose 25 mg, uptitrated to 50 mg after two weeks) for six months or standard of care and research protocol study visits. Patients who are screened, give informed consent but are not randomized will enter a followup registry.
Drug: Stratified medicine - Microvascular dysfunction and eplerenone therapy, tablets
Patients with suspected MINOCA and an index of microvascular resistance (IMR) greater than or equal to 25 will be randomised to receive eplerenone (starting dose 25 mg, uptitrated to 50 mg after two weeks) for six months or standard of care and research protocol study visits. Patients who are screened, give informed consent but are not randomized will enter a followup registry.
Other: Stratification and standard care
Drug page: Eplerenone
Stratified medicine including interventional diagnostic procedure (IDP) and linked treatment with eplerenone. Patients with an increased IMR (strata with microvascular dysfunction, IMR ≥25) will be eligible for randomization to this arm. Patients randomized to receive eplerenone will be commenced on 25 mg once daily, and uptitrated to 50 mg once daily after two weeks. Treatment will be continued for a period of six months.
Also known as: Eplerenone
Interventional diagnostic procedure (IDP) without linked treatment i.e., standard care. Patients with an increased IMR (strata with microvascular dysfunction, IMR ≥25) will be eligible for randomization to this arm. In the standard care group, the IDP is performed but the results are not disclosed. The IDP is therefore a sham procedure. Patients randomized to receive eplerenone will be commenced on 25 mg once daily, and uptitrated to 50 mg once daily after two weeks. Treatment will be continued for a period of six months.
Within patient change in NTproBNP
NTproBNP will be measured at enrolment, thirty days and six months
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Major Adverse Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Events
Major Adverse Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Events (MACCE) defined as cardiovascular death, resuscitated cardiac arrest, and hospitalisation for non-fatal myocardial infarction, angina, heart failure, atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter, stroke or transient ischaemic attack. These are spontaneous adverse cardiovascular events.
Time frame: From enrolment to six months (trial) and twenty years (registry and trial)
Major Adverse Cardiac Events
Major Adverse Cardiac Events (Cardiac MACE) including cardiac death, non-fatal myocardial infarction or hospitalization for heart failure.
Time frame: From enrolment to six months (trial) and twenty years (registry and trial)
Adverse ischaemic cardiac events
Adverse ischaemic cardiac events (AICE) defined as cardiac death, resuscitated cardiac arrest, hospitalisation for myocardial infarction, or hospital episode of unscheduled care for angina with or without admission.
Time frame: From enrolment to six months (trial) and tweny years (registry and trial)
Left ventricular remodelling at 6 months (MRI)
Cardiac MRI performed within fourteen days of enrolment and at six months
Time frame: Within fourteen days of enrolment and at six months
Left ventricular systolic function
Left ventricular systolic function reflected by left ventricular ejection fraction (%) measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Time frame: Within fourteen days and at six months
Myocardial blood flow at 6 months (MRI)
Cardiac MRI with adenosine stress perfusion to measure myocardial blood flow (ml/min/g tissue) at rest and during adenosine-induced hypereremia and myocardial perfusion reserve.
Time frame: Performed at six months
Myocardial extracellular volume fraction
Myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV) quantified by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging
Time frame: Within fourteen days and at six months
Health-related quality of life, patient-assessed
European Quality of Life 5-domain 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire, a patient reported outcome measure. Patient assessed score - Scale 0 (worst), 100 (best)
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Health economics
Institute for Medical Technology Assessment Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ)
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Illness perception
Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ). Higher scores indicate a higher perceived threat with regard to the illness.
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Anxiety and depression
Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). A higher score reflects greater anxiety and depression
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Functional capacity
Duke Activity Status Index (DASI). A higher total score indicates better functional and aerobic capacity.
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Physical activity
International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ-SF), estimated in Metabolic Equivalent of Tasks (METS)
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Cognitive function
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). A score of 26 or higher is considered is normal. A score below 26 may indicate mild cognitive impairment.
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Fibrosis
Circulating (plasma) concentration of procollagen type-I C-terminal pro-peptide (PICP) and collagen type-1 C-terminal telopeptide (CITP) reflect synthesis and degradation of type-I collagen and PICP/CITP ratio reflects collagen turnover.
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Haemostasis pathway activation
Circulating (plasma) concentration of factor VIII and other biomarkers of haemostasis pathway activation e.g. D-dimers, fibrinogen
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Biomarkers of vascular inflammation
Vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) is a biological marker of vascular inflammation. VCAM will be measured at enrolment, thirty days and six months
Time frame: Enrolment, thirty days and six months
Hospital episodes of care for chest pain
Hospital visits for chest pain episodes (emergency department, chest pain clinic) that may not have led to hospital admission, will be documented as a prioritised outcome of interest. These episodes may not fulfil the criteria for a SAE, but nonetheless, are episodes of care that are relevant to patients and healthcare providers. These events include but are not limited to episodes of adjudicated angina.
Time frame: Enrolment to six months (trial) and twenty years (registry and trial)
Plan to share: Yes — Data will be shared based on a bon fide research request and sponsor approval.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Informed consent form, Clinical study report
Time frame: At the end of the study
Access criteria: Bon fide research request and sponsor approval.
Started Feb 2022 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jul 2026, 53 months after the start.
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Studies of the drug tested here: Eplerenone
NHS National Waiting Times Centre Board