EMDR Treatment in PTSD Following Cardiac Events

Status: Recruiting
Location: See location...
Intervention Type: Behavioral
Study Type: Interventional
Study Phase: Not Applicable
SUMMARY

Cardiac events can often result in debilitating and persistent psychological symptoms. A key question involves whether optimal treatment of cardiac-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reduces PTSD symptoms and thereby may offset the risk of recurrent or worsening cardiovascular disease. Cardiac-induced PTSD 1) is prevalent, 2) features symptoms unique to internal ongoing somatic threat, with fears and worries that can be distinguished from PTSD resulting from external causes, 3) is persistent, 4) is associated with negative physical and emotional consequences, and 5) has not been the subject of randomized-controlled treatment trials (RCT). There is preliminary evidence suggesting that patients with cardiac-disease induced PTSD might particularly profit from EMDR. Nevertheless, this possibility has not been tested in cardiac-induced PTSD. Currently, patients with cardiac-induced PTSD are not routinely offered trauma-focused therapies, with a lack of scientific evidence likely being one major reason for this omission. If our proposed RCT shows that EMDR can be an effective treatment for patients with ACS-induced PTSD, EMDR could be routinely implemented as first-line treatment. The RCT outcomes might inform larger trials to test whether poor prognosis in terms of major adverse cardiovascular events can be improved through EMDR in patients with cardiac-induced PTSD.

Eligibility
Participation Requirements
Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Maximum Age: 70
Healthy Volunteers: f
View:

• Age between 18-70 years

• Men or women

• STEMI (irrespective of troponin, but ST-elevation) or non-STEMI (troponin positive) at the time of the cardiac event, as verified by the cardiologist

• Diagnosis of PTSD caused by the cardiac event

Locations
Other Locations
Switzerland
University Hospital Zurich
RECRUITING
Zurich
Contact Information
Primary
Christoph Mueller-Pfeiffer, PD Dr. med.
christoph.mueller-pfeiffer@access.uzh.ch
+41 44 255 52 80
Backup
Mary Princip, PhD
mary.princip@usz.ch
+41 44 255 52 80
Time Frame
Start Date: 2020-11-21
Estimated Completion Date: 2026-11-30
Participants
Target number of participants: 60
Treatments
No_intervention: Waitlist control group
The intervention group consists of 30 patients diagnosed with PTSD induced by ACS. No intervention or any other procedure will be conducted during the study period of 36 weeks. Afterwards these subjects will be offered an EMDR therapy as provided in the intervention.
Experimental: Intervention group
The intervention group consists of 30 patients diagnosed with PTSD induced by ACS. Eight individual EMDR sessions lasting for 1 hours will be provided over 8 weeks by licensed EMDR therapists from the German-speaking part of Switzerland. Each EMDR session follows a standardized 8-phase protocol.
Sponsors
Collaborators: Stiftung zur Förderung von Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, EMDR Foundation, EMDR Europe, EMDO Stiftung
Leads: University of Zurich

This content was sourced from clinicaltrials.gov