EMDR Treatment in PTSD Following Cardiac Events

Recruiting now · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Myocardial Infarction, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

In brief

Cardiac events can often result in debilitating and persistent psychological symptoms. A key question involves whether optimal treatment of cardiac-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reduces PTSD symptoms and thereby may offset the risk of recurrent or worsening cardiovascular disease. Cardiac-induced PTSD 1) is prevalent, 2) features symptoms unique to internal ongoing somatic threat, with fears and worries that can be distinguished from PTSD resulting from external causes, 3) is persistent, 4) is associated with negative physical and emotional consequences, and 5) has not been the subject of randomized-controlled treatment trials (RCT). There is preliminary evidence suggesting that patients with cardiac-disease induced PTSD might particularly profit from EMDR. Nevertheless, this possibility has not been tested in cardiac-induced PTSD. Currently, patients with cardiac-induced PTSD are not routinely offered trauma-focused therapies, with a lack of scientific evidence likely being one major reason for this omission. If our proposed RCT shows that EMDR can be an effective treatment for patients with ACS-induced PTSD, EMDR could be routinely implemented as first-line treatment. The RCT outcomes might inform larger trials to test whether poor prognosis in terms of major adverse cardiovascular events can be improved through EMDR in patients with cardiac-induced PTSD.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT04672551
Run by: University of Zurich
People needed: 60
Starts: 2020-11-21
Expected to finish: 2027-11-30
Last updated by the study team: 2026-05-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 70. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

Age between 18-70 years
Men or women
STEMI (irrespective of troponin, but ST-elevation) or non-STEMI (troponin positive) at the time of the cardiac event, as verified by the cardiologist
Diagnosis of PTSD caused by the cardiac event

You may not qualify if…

Psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, substance abuse as measured with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I)
Acute suicidal ideation as assessed with the M.I.N.I.
Non-selective beta blockers (e.g., propranolol) during the study period
Ongoing psychological/psychiatric treatment outside of the trial during the study period
Visionary problems, e.g. strabismus, which does not allow adequate eye movements
Insufficient knowledge of the German language
Expected inability or willingness to follow the study protocol
Regular medication with benzodiazepine

Where it is running

University Hospital Zurich — Zurich, Switzerland (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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