Breathing exercises could supercharge heart failure recovery
NCT ID NCT04984473
First seen Jul 17, 2026 · Last updated Jul 17, 2026
Summary
This study investigates whether adding inspiratory muscle training—breathing exercises that strengthen the diaphragm—to standard cardiac rehabilitation can improve blood flow and blood pressure responses during exercise in people with heart failure. The trial includes both heart failure patients and healthy volunteers matched for age and sex. Participants in the heart failure group will undergo 12 weeks of breathing training at 40% of their maximal inspiratory pressure alongside their regular rehab program.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- inspiratory muscle training device
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could point toward a simple, low-cost addition to cardiac rehab that improves exercise tolerance and blood pressure control in heart failure.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage study with only 42 participants, so results may not apply broadly. The breathing training may not produce meaningful improvements over standard rehab alone.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 42 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2021
- Expected to finish
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Aug 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria - Heart Failure Group: * Adult 18 years and older. * English speaking. * Has a qualifying heart failure indication for center-based cardiac rehabilitation. Inclusion Criteria - Healthy Control Group: * Adult 18 years and older. * English speaking. * Absence of pulmonary, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurologic, or orthopedic diseases. Controls will be matched for age and sex. Exclusion Criteria: * HF patients who are unable to engage in a regularly structured exercise training program as part of a clinically indicated center-based outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program. * Participants unable/unwilling to provide informed consent. * Uremia, history of allergy to iodides. Impaired renal function. * Creatinine value greater than 1.3 mg/dL (via clinical record within the past 6 months). * Diagnosis of liver disease.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Mayo Clinic in Rochester
RECRUITINGRochester, Minnesota, 55905, United States
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