Sligo General Hospital

This is a pilot randomised controlled trial investigating the use of an adjustable compression garment in the treatment of patients with Breast Cancer related upper limb Lymphoedema. This study will be conducted as part of a MSc qualification at the Institute of Technology Sligo in Ireland with all therapy sessions taking place in the Physiotherapy Department of Sligo University Hospital (formerly Sligo General Hospital). The study will be conducted in conjunction with Sligo University Hospital and it has attained ethical approval through the relevant University Hospital Ethics Committee.

Hypertension is extremely common amongst the elderly, typically manifesting as a silent disease with potentially devastating consequences if left undetected and untreated. Such consequences include stroke, myocardial infarction, kidney and eye disease. Opportunistic screening for hypertension is therefore standard in clinical practice. Currently, the standard of care for screening in the western world is with 24-hour ambulatory cuff-based devices which are often intolerable, particularly for elderly patients.
Several novel cuffless wearables have been developed to overcome the limitations of cuff-based monitors. These devices offer significant advantages over cuff-based devices, including improved patient tolerance and user acceptability. Numerous cuffless monitors are now commercially available. However, validation of such devices is challenging as there is no current universal standard for validating such devices.5 This is highlighted by the heterogenous and often inadequate study methods used to demonstrate accuracy of commercially available cuffless devices for blood pressure measurements. Indeed, the uncertainty about their merit is reflected in international guidelines. The 2023 European Society of Hypertension guidelines currently do not recommend routine use of such devices in clinical practice for evaluation of blood pressure.
There are limited clinical trials comparing 24-hour cuff-based devices directly to cuffless devices, and even fewer specifically in an elderly population where they may be particularly advantageous due to design features that improve tolerability. This study thus aims to address this important gap in the literature to better understand if cuffless devices provide reliable blood pressure measurements in the elderly population by directly comparing these devices to the current standard of care in blood pressure evaluation. The Aktiia device will be used as a surrogate for cuffless wearables while a standard 24-hour ambulatory cuff-based device will represent cuff-based devices. The Aktiia device is a cuffless solution worn as a bracelet on the wrist. It contains optical sensors which collect photoplethysmography signals from arteries in the patient's wrist and uses these to estimate blood pressure. This device is commercially available and clinically validated for use in patients up to age 85.

This study aims to determine if patients with higher BMI can tolerate higher doses of Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) and experience better symptomatic and functional outcomes compared to patients with lower BMI.