Trial reportCirculation2025
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Thoracentesis in Acute Heart Failure.
Trial report in Circulation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05017753 (Thoracentesis to Alleviate Cardiac Pleural Effusion - an Interventional Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.
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.
Thoracentesis to Alleviate Cardiac Pleural Effusion - an Interventional Trial (TAP-IT)
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- [Update on the pharmacotherapy of chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: from four to six pillars?]Innere Medizin (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Review
- Drainage of Pleural Effusion in the Intensive Care Unit (DOPE-ICU) Feasibility Trial-Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan.Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Can indwelling pleural catheters provide additional benefits in elderly heart failure patients with pleural effusion? A real-world retrospective multicenter analysis.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTAP-IT (Thoracentesis to Alleviate Cardiac Pleural Effusion-Interventional Trial) investigated the effect of therapeutic thoracentesis in addition to standard medical therapy in patients with acute heart failure and sizeable pleural effusion.
methodsThis multicenter, unblinded, randomized controlled trial, conducted between August 31, 2021, and March 22, 2024, included patients with acute heart failure, left ventricular ejection fraction ≤45%, and non-negligible pleural effusion. Patients with very large effusions (more than two-thirds of the hemithorax) were excluded. Participants were randomly assigned 1:1 to upfront ultrasound-guided pleural pigtail catheter thoracentesis in addition to standard medical therapy or standard medical therapy alone. The primary outcome was days alive out of the hospital over the following 90 days; key secondary outcomes included length of admission and 90-day all-cause mortality. All outcomes were analyzed according to the intention-to-treat principle.
resultsA total of 135 patients (median age, 81 years [25th; 75th percentile, 75; 83]; 33% female; median left ventricular ejection fraction, 25% [25th; 75th percentile, 20%; 35%]) were randomized to either thoracentesis (n=68) or standard medical therapy (n=67). The thoracentesis group had a median of 84 days (77; 86) alive out of the hospital over the following 90 days compared with 82 days (73; 86) in the control group (
conclusionsFor patients with acute heart failure and pleural effusion, a strategy of upfront routine thoracentesis in addition to standard medical therapy did not increase days alive out of the hospital for 90 days, all-cause mortality, or duration of index admission. The current findings lay the groundwork for future research to confirm the results. REGISTRATION: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT05017753.
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.