Trial reportJournal of the American Heart Association2022
Neuromodulation of Inflammation to Treat Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.
Trial report in Journal of the American Heart Association, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05350150 (Non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Patients Undergoing Electrophysiological Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 70 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Patients Undergoing Electrophysiological Study (VNS-EPS)
Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Movement Disorders, from Principles to a Systematic Review of Evidence.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025Pooled it
- Phenotype characterization of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in medical device and surgical trials.ESC heart failure · 2025Pooled it
- The efficacy of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in heart failure management - a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cardiovascular disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Safety of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS): a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in hemodialysis patients: A randomized controlled trial.Therapeutic apheresis and dialysis : official peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Apheresis, the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy · 2026Trial
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation paired with task-specific training for improving walking and balance in chronic stroke: a double-blind, randomised controlled feasibility trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2026Trial
- Acute right-sided transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation improves cardio-vagal baroreflex gain in patients with chronic heart failure.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2025Trial
- Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Postural Tachycardia Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JACC. Clinical electrophysiology · 2024Trial
- Noninvasive low-level tragus stimulation attenuates inflammation and oxidative stress in acute heart failure.Clinical autonomic research : official journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society · 2023Trial
- Auricular Vagal Neuromodulation and its Application in Patients with Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction.Arquivos brasileiros de cardiologia · 2023Trial
- Hypertension: a missing piece in HFpEF?Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2026Review
- Novel device-based and catheter-directed therapies for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.Cardiovascular intervention and therapeutics · 2026Review
- Neurocardiology: Brain-Heart Interactions in the Heart.MedComm · 2026Review
- tVNS and obesity-related inflammation: a prospective sham-controlled randomized crossover study protocol.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Current concepts and challenges in pediatric diastolic dysfunction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Role of Exercise in Modulating the Brain-Heart Axis in Cardiovascular Diseases.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- A Review of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Disease: Comprehensive Theory and Evidence for Mechanisms of Action.Comprehensive physiology · 2026Review
- Neuroimmune interactions in cardiovascular homeostasis and disease.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2026Review
- Pocking the Ear for HFpEF?Cardiovascular drugs and therapy · 2026Article
- A fully degradable triboelectric vagus nerve stimulator for attenuating cardiac remodeling and heart failure at different stages.Nature communications · 2026Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Background A systemic proinflammatory state plays a central role in the development of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Low-level transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation suppresses inflammation in humans. We conducted a sham-controlled, double-blind, randomized clinical trial to examine the effect of chronic low-level transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation on cardiac function, exercise capacity, and inflammation in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Methods and Results Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and at least 2 additional comorbidities (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, or age ≥65 years) were randomized to either active (tragus) or sham (earlobe) low-level transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (20 Hz, 1 mA below discomfort threshold), for 1 hour daily for 3 months. Echocardiography, 6-minute walk test, quality of life, and serum cytokines were assessed at baseline and 3 months. Fifty-two patients (mean age 70.4±9.2 years; 70% female) were included (active, n=26; sham, n=26). Baseline characteristics were balanced between the 2 arms. Adherence to the protocol of daily stimulation was >90% in both arms (
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.