Design of the Prospective Comparison of Angiotensin Receptor-Neprilysin Inhibitor Versus Placebo in Patients With Congenital Systemic Right Ventricle Heart Failure (PARACYS-RV) Trial

The presence of a systemic right ventricle (sRV) with biventricular physiology (biV) is associated with increased patient morbidity and mortality. To date, no pharmacologic therapy for heart failure has been proven effective for patients with systolic dysfunction of the sRV-biV. We designed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial to compare sacubitril/valsartan treatment to placebo in adults (aged ≥ 18 years) with moderate-to-severe sRV-biV dysfunction and New York Heart Association functional class II to III symptoms. Two primary efficacy endpoints are assessed in the trial: exercise capacity (submaximal exercise duration) and neurohormonal activation (N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide). Secondary objectives include assessing a change in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire score and evaluating the safety and tolerance of sacubitril/valsartan. A 6-week open run-in phase identifies the maximum tolerated dose of sacubitril/valsartan, up to 97 mg/103 mg twice daily. After a 2-week washout period, patients are randomized 1:1 to sacubitril/valsartan treatment vs placebo for a 24-week phase, followed by another 2-week washout period and subsequent crossover to the alternative treatment arm for an additional 24-week phase. Data to assess primary and secondary endpoints are collected at baseline and at the end of each phase. A total of 48 patients is required to provide > 80% power to detect a 30% difference in distance walked and in N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide levels with sacubitril/valsartan treatment vs placebo, each with a 2-sided P-value of 0.025. In summary, the Prospective Comparison of Angiotensin Receptor-Neprilysin Inhibitor vs Placebo in Patients With Congenital Systemic Right Ventricular Heart Failure Trial (PARACYS-RV) should determine the role of sacubitril/valsartan in treating heart failure in patients with sRV-biV and carries the potential to alter management of this patient population.