An observational study in ST-elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) and Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential (CHIP), sponsored by Medical University Innsbruck. Recruiting at 1 site in Austria. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-09.
Sponsored by Medical University Innsbruck · Observational
Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential (CHIP) refers to the age-related expansion of hematopoietic stem cell clones carrying somatic mutations in leukemia-associated driver genes (e.g., DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1) in the absence of a hematological malignancy. CHIP has been identified as an independent cardiovascular risk factor associated with increased rates of myocardial infarction, stroke, and cardiovascular mortality, likely mediated through enhanced inflammatory signaling in mutant macrophages and monocytes.
ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a life-threatening emergency requiring immediate reperfusion by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Despite successful reperfusion, adverse cardiac remodeling and heart failure may occur depending on myocardial injury severity, microvascular obstruction (MVO), and intramyocardial hemorrhage (IMH) - phenomena substantially driven by ischemia-reperfusion injury and the inflammatory response.
The CHIP in STEMI study is a prospective, observational, single-center cohort study at the Medical University of Innsbruck investigating whether CHIP - detected by targeted next-generation sequencing - is associated with greater infarct severity and worse cardiac outcomes in STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI. The primary endpoint is the presence of MVO and/or IMH on cardiac MRI (CMR) at 5±2 days post-PCI. Secondary endpoints include infarct size, left and right ventricular function, major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and immune cell transcriptome profiling by single-cell RNA sequencing.
350 patients (18-75 years, minimum 90 female) will be enrolled over 36 months and followed for 4 years (2026-2030).
Background and Rationale:
CHIP mutations - particularly in TET2 and DNMT3A - promote a pro-inflammatory state in hematopoietic cells. Preclinical data demonstrate that TET2-deficient macrophages exhibit exaggerated NLRP3 inflammasome activation and IL-1β secretion, while DNMT3A mutations impair immune resolution after myocardial ischemia. This enhanced inflammatory signaling may worsen myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), thereby increasing MVO, IMH, and infarct size in CHIP carriers presenting with STEMI.
Study Design:
Prospective, observational, single-center cohort study. No intervention beyond standard of care.
Study Population:
350 patients aged 18-75 years with STEMI undergoing primary PCI at the University Clinic of Internal Medicine III - Cardiology and Angiology, Medical University of Innsbruck. A minimum of 90 female participants will be enrolled.
Key Inclusion Criteria:
Key Exclusion Criteria:
Assessments:
Primary Endpoint:
Presence of microvascular obstruction (MVO) and/or intramyocardial hemorrhage (IMH) on CMR at 5±2 days post-PCI in CHIP carriers versus non-carriers.
Secondary Endpoints:
Ethics and Regulatory:
The study protocol has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Medical University of Innsbruck and is conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and ICH-GCP guidelines. All participants provide written informed consent prior to study inclusion. The study is funded by the KLiF (Klinisch-Interne Forschung) program of the Medical University of Innsbruck.
850 studies on the registry are indexed under ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction; 197 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 350 is close to the median of 335 across 297 observational studies indexed under ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction.
Browse ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction studies →Medical University Innsbruck is the lead sponsor of 186 studies on the registry; 47 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
The study population will consist of adult female and male patients aged 18 to 75 years with a first acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention within 12 hours after symptom onset. Patients will be screened at the coronary care unit of the Medical University of Innsbruck. Eligible patients will be invited to participate after primary percutaneous coronary intervention and after assessment of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Standard clinical care and secondary prevention will be performed according to current guideline recommendations.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
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.
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
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.
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
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.
Cancer (malignancy)
Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.
Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Clinically significant
Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hemoglobin (Hb)
The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Autoimmune disease
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Creatinine clearance (CrCl)
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
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.
Life expectancy
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) who undergo successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). All consecutive eligible patients are enrolled regardless of CHIP mutation status. This single cohort is analyzed based on CHIP presence/absence and specific CHIP mutation type (e.g., DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1).
Diagnostic Test: Clonal hematopoiesis assessment and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging
Participants will undergo blood sampling for assessment of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential by targeted next-generation sequencing and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging for assessment of myocardial injury, including microvascular obstruction, intramyocardial hemorrhage, infarct size, ventricular function, and myocardial tissue characteristics. Additional biomarker and inflammatory profiling will be performed according to the study protocol.
Occurrence of microvascular injury
Presence of microvascular injury, defined as microvascular obstruction and/or intramyocardial hemorrhage, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. The outcome will be analyzed according to the presence or absence of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential.
Time frame: 5 ± 2 days after primary percutaneous coronary intervention
Infarct size
Infarct size expressed as percentage of left ventricular myocardial mass, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. The outcome will be analyzed according to the presence or absence of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential.
Time frame: 5 ± 2 days after primary percutaneous coronary intervention
Left ventricular ejection fraction
Left ventricular ejection fraction assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention.
Time frame: 5 ± 2 days, 4 months, and 12 months after primary percutaneous coronary intervention
All-cause mortality
eath from any cause after study inclusion.
Time frame: Within 12 months after study inclusion.
Hospitalization for heart failure
Hospitalization due to new or worsening heart failure after study inclusion.
Time frame: Within 12 months after study inclusion.
Plan to share: Undecided
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Jun 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jun 2029, 36 months after the start.
Of 122 non-industry observational studies under ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction, half reached primary completion within 41 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 18 and three quarters within 107. This study's planned 36 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 143 studies reached it within 38 months; a quarter within 20 and three quarters within 73.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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