Clinical Trials Spotlight - ACCESS

The Acute, Critical Care, Surgery and Transplant CTSU is thrilled to be supporting the ACCESS trial which will compare two current standards of care for treating resuscitated adult patients who suffered an out-of-hospital ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) cardiac arrest. The ACCESS Trial, led by Co-Investigators, Michael Thomas, MD and Cindy Hsu, PhD, will include adult victims of V-Fib out-of-hospital cardiac arrest who are transported to Michigan Medicine. 

All patients will receive standard resuscitation care. The only difference is that patients will be randomized into one of two treatment groups to determine the best method of care. One group will go directly to the Cardiac Catheterization Lab (CCL) and the other will be admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Approximately 395,000 cases of cardiac arrest occur outside of a hospital setting each year in the United States. On average, less than 6 percent survive, resulting in over 360,000 deaths per year. Victims are generally between 50-70 years old. In this community, even if treated, only about 8% survive.

"Both the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) are encouraging early access to the CCL," said Jennifer Fowler, EM Research Project Manager, "but cannot strongly recommend it due to the absence of a randomized clinical trial. We're hoping that with the help of the five-year ACCESS study we can change that."

The ACCESS trial differs from many other trials due to the short treatment window following the patient's arrival. Patients will be enrolled under Exemption from Informed Consent (EFIC), a special rule set by the FDA and DHHS to allow research studies to go forward in certain emergency situations where consent is not easily obtained. 

To learn more information about ACCESS or opt-out of the study ahead of time click here or email ACCESS.Trial@umich.edu.