CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Vol 21, No 3, May/June 2010
170
AFRICA
Drug Trends in Cardiology
CLARIFY registry launched in South Africa
The CLARIFY registry (ProspeCtive
observational LongitudinAl RegIstry
oF patients with stable coronary arterY
disease) is the first and largest inter-
national registry designed to increase
knowledge and understanding of stable
coronary artery disease (CAD).
Coronary artery disease remains the
leading cause of death worldwide, there-
fore improving the understanding of
the management and outcomes of these
patients with stable CAD is paramount for
reducing the CAD disease burden. Data
currently available on presentation and
management of patients with stable CAD
is mainly from clinical trials or regis-
tries that often have stringent exclusion
criteria, and therefore do not adequately
represent populations with stable CAD
seen in clinical practice (in terms of age,
co-morbidity and treatment).
‘Despite the growing importance of
heart rate in the treatment of CAD, there
is little existing data on resting heart rate
in patients seen in day-to-day clinical
practice, so a registry of CAD patients
involving the heart is long overdue, partic-
ularly as heart rate needs to be carefully
measured’, commented study lead Prof
Philippe Gabriel Steg, Bischat-Claude
Bernard Hospital, Paris, France.
CLARIFY is therefore designed to
characterise the demographic and clinical
profile of patients with stable CAD and
will reflect the entire spectrum of outpa-
tients with stable CAD seen by cardiolo-
gists and primary-care physicians in daily
clinical practice. The main aim will be to
determine long-term prognostic factors in
these patients, including the role of rest-
ing heart rate, with a view to developing
a risk-prediction model, since heart rate
is not yet a routine component of cardio-
vascular risk assessment, or in deciding
whether treatment is indicated.
CLARIFY will involve a minimum
of 30 000 outpatients with stable CAD
from 40 countries worldwide, who will
be followed for five years. South Africa
is also participating in this international
registry.
Prof DP Naidoo, University of
KwaZulu Natal, the national coordinator
for CLARIFY commented: ‘I am keen to
see what this snapshot of the current care
of patients with CAD in South Africa will
show’. Patients are being recruited from
both the private and the public sector
in South Africa, from both metropolitan
areas and outlying clinics, so the sample
will be truly representative of current
practice in South Africa.
Patient recruitment started around the
world in October 2009. Commenting
on behalf of Servier, who provided an
educational grant for the registry, Pat
Magagula is confident that South Africa
will exceed expectations by recruiting
over 500 patients.
Your Life and Your Heart
continued
from p.169
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It's the
shell that
makes
safer.
Safety-Coated
R
81mg
The ORIGINAL low dose aspirin
for optimum cardio-protection
Hp
Each tablet contains Aspirin 81mg. Reg.No.: 29/2.7/0767
Pharmafrica (Pty) Ltd, 33 Hulbert Road, New Centre, Johannesburg 2001
Under licence from Goldshield Pharmaceuticals Ltd. U.K.
