The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) is recruiting volunteers at 163 locations across the country.
EDTA chelation therapy involves repeated administrations of a synthetic amino acid to reduce atherosclerotic plaque and other mineral deposits throughout the cardiovascular system.
Participants will be randomly assigned to receive 40 infusions of either the standard chelation solution or placebo. The primary endpoint of this trial will be a composite of all cause mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, hospitalization for angina and hospitalization for congestive heart failure.
The results of TACT will provide either a significant positive result or an informative null result upon which rational clinical decision-making and health policy can be based.
Chelation therapy with EDTA is also being tried with peripheral vascular and cerebrovascular disease. Click on the STAT podcast (see sidebar) for “Rife With Strife, #2″. TACT is significant because of the implications for changing the landscape of therapy. Reduce or eliminate CABG and PTCAs? CEAs and carotid stents? Fem-pop? I hope this study succeeds. The upside benefits are enormous.
Filed under: clinical
