DM Cardiology

DM Cardiology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for each

A DM cardiology thesis sits on three data sources the department already generates every day: the catheterisation laboratory record, the echocardiography report and the procedural outcome follow-up. That makes recruitment easy and measurement hard, because the variables that matter — a lesion classification, an ejection fraction, a strain value — depend on who measured them and on which machine. A three-year super-specialty window is enough for a prospective cohort with a six-month or one-year endpoint, which is why most good cardiology dissertations are observational rather than randomised. Examiners press on reproducibility of the imaging measurement, on whether the angiographic reading was blinded, and on how completely follow-up was achieved.

Topic register · 44 entries · 7 designs^[6]

Read the register DM Cardiology thesis help

NMC PGMER-2023
NBEMS 180 days / 26 months
UGC 2018 · under 10%
ICMR 2017 · ethics

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The DM Cardiology register

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Filter by design or by feasibility, or search the titles and outcomes. Filtering only hides entries: every topic stays on the page, so nothing is lost if you clear the filters or arrive by a deep link.

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Study design

Feasibility in a teaching unit

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Showing 44 of 44 topics

The sample figure on each plate is a planning range read off the design, not a calculated answer. Your own number comes from a calculation against your own assumptions — the difference you would call clinically meaningful, the variability in your setting, the power you want — and it belongs in the synopsis with those assumptions written beside it.

Topic 01 / 44
Link to this entry
Angiographic profile and conventional risk factor distribution in patients under forty presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of single, double and triple vessel involvement with the culprit vessel identified
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 120 to 200 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A catheterisation laboratory performing primary or early invasive angiography routinely
- A second operator to read angiograms independently, with a disagreement rule
- A risk factor proforma including tobacco form, family history and lipid profile
What derails it
Some patients in this age group will have normal or near-normal coronaries, and how you classify those decides your headline distribution; define recanalised, ectatic and normal-coronary categories in the protocol rather than forcing every case into a vessel count.
Topic 02 / 44
Link to this entry
Clinical, angiographic and procedural factors associated with no-reflow during primary percutaneous coronary intervention
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Occurrence of no-reflow, defined by a stated thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow grade and myocardial blush grade
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 procedures, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A primary angioplasty programme with a documented activation pathway
- Angiographic runs stored in a form that allows blinded grading afterwards
- Two readers trained in flow and blush grading, with an agreement check
What derails it
Flow and blush grades read live by the operator who has just treated the lesion are open to exactly the bias that decides your primary outcome, so the grading must be done later from stored runs by someone who did not perform the case, and the thesis must state that arrangement.
Topic 03 / 44
Link to this entry
Transradial versus transfemoral access for coronary angiography and intervention: access site complications and procedural parameters
DesignComparative interventionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Composite of access site complications recorded before discharge
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 per group, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Operators who use both routes regularly, not one route by preference
- A written definition for each access site complication, applied by an independent observer
- An ultrasound check for radial occlusion if that is among your outcomes
What derails it
Access route is chosen by the operator for reasons that predict complications anyway — a shocked patient or an impalpable radial goes femoral — so without a stated allocation rule the comparison is confounded by exactly the factors you are studying, and an observational label must be honest about that.
Topic 04 / 44
Link to this entry
Peri-procedural intravenous hydration regimens and contrast-associated acute kidney injury after coronary angiography in patients with impaired renal function
DesignRandomised controlledFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Occurrence of contrast-associated acute kidney injury by a stated creatinine rise within 48 to 72 hours
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 130 per group, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Laboratory support for creatinine at fixed pre-procedure and post-procedure time points
- A defined contrast volume recording practice for every case
- Clinical Trials Registry of India registration before the first enrolment
What derails it
The 48-hour creatinine is the outcome and patients go home the next morning, so every discharge before the repeat sample is a missing primary endpoint; either the protocol holds patients for the sample, which the unit must agree to, or the study will report on a self-selected subset.
Topic 05 / 44
Link to this entry
Anatomical complexity score and in-hospital outcome in patients undergoing percutaneous intervention for multivessel coronary disease
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Composite in-hospital major adverse cardiac event rate by complexity score tertile
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A multivessel interventional caseload and stored angiographic runs
- Two trained scorers working independently on the complexity score
- An agreed definition of each component of the composite endpoint
What derails it
Complexity scoring is notoriously variable between readers, and a score computed by a single trainee will be challenged at viva; build in duplicate scoring of at least a subset and report the agreement, because the whole analysis rests on that one variable.
Topic 06 / 44
Link to this entry
Stent thrombosis after percutaneous coronary intervention: frequency, timing and associated factors over five years
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Frequency of definite or probable stent thrombosis by the stated academic consortium definition, with time since index procedure
Collection time
8 to 10 months of record work
Sample, as a planning figure
every intervention performed in the stated period as the denominator, counted in full rather than sampled; confirm your own laboratory volume first
What your unit must already have
- A catheterisation laboratory database that records index procedures and readmissions
- Discharge summaries and angiographic records for suspected events
- Ethics committee waiver of consent for record review
What derails it
Patients who develop stent thrombosis often present to the nearest hospital rather than yours, so your numerator is systematically incomplete while the denominator is complete; state that limitation explicitly and consider a telephone follow-up of a sample to estimate what you are missing.
Topic 07 / 44
Link to this entry
Adherence to dual antiplatelet therapy in the first year after percutaneous coronary intervention and the reasons for discontinuation
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion continuing both agents at six and twelve months, with recorded reasons for discontinuation
Collection time
18 months including the twelve-month follow-up of the early cohort
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A discharge register with two contact numbers for every patient
- A telephone follow-up schedule with a structured script
- Pharmacy or prescription records where available, to corroborate self-report
What derails it
Discontinuation is usually financial and patients will not say so to the doctor who implanted the stent, so the follow-up call must come from someone other than the treating team and must ask the cost question directly rather than relying on a volunteered reason.
Topic 08 / 44
Link to this entry
Fragmented QRS on the surface electrocardiogram and left ventricular systolic function after acute myocardial infarction
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Left ventricular ejection fraction on echocardiography at discharge, in relation to the presence of fragmented QRS
Collection time
12 to 15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Standard twelve-lead electrocardiograms recorded at a consistent paper speed and gain
- Echocardiography by a reader blinded to the electrocardiogram finding
- Two independent readers for the electrocardiographic criterion
What derails it
Fragmentation is a visual criterion that depends on recording quality, and a noisy baseline from a busy emergency electrocardiogram machine makes it unreadable; fix the recording standard and exclude poor-quality tracings by a stated rule rather than calling them negative.
Topic 09 / 44
Link to this entry
Left ventricular global longitudinal strain in patients with type 2 diabetes and a normal ejection fraction
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Global longitudinal strain value compared between diabetic patients and non-diabetic comparison subjects
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 60 to 100 per group, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An echocardiography machine with speckle tracking software and a licence that is current
- A single operator and a single machine for all acquisitions, to avoid vendor variation
- A comparison group recruited with defined exclusion of hypertension and coronary disease
What derails it
Strain values are not interchangeable between vendors or software versions, so an upgrade or a machine change midway makes the later half of your data incomparable with the earlier half; confirm the department will not change the platform during your collection period, in writing if possible.
Topic 10 / 44
Link to this entry
Echocardiographic profile and clinical characteristics of patients presenting with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Distribution of diastolic function grade by a stated algorithm, with left atrial volume index
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 120 to 200 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Echocardiography with tissue Doppler and the ability to measure left atrial volume
- A written diagnostic algorithm for preserved ejection fraction heart failure, fixed in advance
- Natriuretic peptide testing if your algorithm requires it, confirmed as available
What derails it
This diagnosis is an algorithm, not an observation, and two algorithms will classify the same patient differently, so name the version you use and report how many patients were unclassifiable; a study that calls every breathless patient with a normal ejection fraction a case will not survive review.
Topic 11 / 44
Link to this entry
Six-minute walk distance and its relation to echocardiographic and clinical variables in patients with chronic heart failure
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distance walked in six minutes on a measured level corridor, against ejection fraction and functional class
Collection time
12 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 120 to 200 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A measured, level corridor of adequate length available at fixed times
- A standard test script with the same encouragement wording every time
- Resuscitation equipment and a supervising physician during testing
What derails it
The test is highly sensitive to the corridor and the verbal encouragement used, and a hospital corridor shared with trolleys will not give reproducible distances; fix one corridor, one time of day and one tester, and record any test stopped early with the reason.
Topic 12 / 44
Link to this entry
Immediate and six-month haemodynamic outcome after balloon mitral valvotomy in rheumatic mitral stenosis
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Change in mitral valve area on echocardiography from before the procedure to six months after
Collection time
18 months including six-month follow-up of the early cohort
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 140 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An active balloon mitral valvotomy programme, with a documented annual volume
- Echocardiographic measurement of valve area by a consistent stated method
- A follow-up clinic appointment system that brings patients back at six months
What derails it
Valve area measured by planimetry, by pressure half-time and by the continuity equation give different numbers after valvotomy, and a mixture of methods across time points makes the change uninterpretable; fix one primary method in the protocol and record the others as secondary.
Topic 13 / 44
Link to this entry
Clinical and echocardiographic profile of patients with rheumatic heart disease presenting to a tertiary cardiology service
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of valve lesions and severity grades by a stated echocardiographic criterion set
Collection time
12 to 15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An echocardiography laboratory with consistent reporting and archived images
- A written severity grading reference applied uniformly
- A proforma capturing secondary prophylaxis history and functional status
What derails it
Multiple valve involvement makes severity grading interdependent, since significant mitral stenosis lowers the gradients that define aortic disease, so state the order in which lesions are graded and how mixed lesions are reported rather than listing each valve independently.
Topic 14 / 44
Link to this entry
Stroke risk profile and anticoagulation practice in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation attending a cardiology service
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion on guideline-indicated anticoagulation by stroke risk score category
Collection time
12 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A clinic register or electrocardiographic archive to identify atrial fibrillation patients
- The stated risk and bleeding scores computed from recorded variables
- Prescription records including anticoagulant dose and monitoring where relevant
What derails it
Patients on a vitamin K antagonist without a recent international normalised ratio are neither anticoagulated nor untreated, and they can be a sizeable group in this setting; define in advance whether effective anticoagulation requires a documented therapeutic range, because that choice changes the headline proportion substantially.
Topic 15 / 44
Link to this entry
Recurrence of atrial fibrillation after successful cardioversion and the factors associated with it
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Recurrence of atrial fibrillation within six months, documented on electrocardiography or ambulatory monitoring
Collection time
18 months including follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 140 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A cardioversion practice with documented rhythm status at discharge
- A follow-up schedule with electrocardiography at fixed intervals
- Access to ambulatory monitoring if asymptomatic recurrence is to be captured
What derails it
Asymptomatic recurrence is invisible unless you monitor for it, so a study relying on clinic electrocardiograms measures symptomatic recurrence only; say which you are measuring in the outcome definition, because conflating the two is the commonest criticism of this design.
Topic 16 / 44
Link to this entry
Indications, lead parameters and early complications after permanent pacemaker implantation over three years
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion with a recorded early complication, with indication distribution and implant parameters
Collection time
6 to 8 months of record work
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 300 implants, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A device implantation register with interrogation records at follow-up visits
- A written definition of early complication and the time window for it
- Ethics committee waiver of consent for record review
What derails it
Device registers record the implant in detail and the follow-up visit barely at all, and patients who went elsewhere for a pocket problem never appear; check how many implants in your period have at least one documented follow-up interrogation before you fix the sample, because that number is your real denominator.
Topic 17 / 44
Link to this entry
Clinical and echocardiographic response six months after cardiac resynchronisation therapy
DesignCohortFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Proportion meeting a stated definition of response, combining ejection fraction change and functional class
Collection time
18 months including follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 40 to 70 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A resynchronisation implantation programme with sufficient annual volume
- Echocardiography before and after by the same reader with archived images
- A device clinic that performs optimisation and records it
What derails it
Implant volumes for resynchronisation devices are limited by device cost in many Indian units, so the binding constraint is not your protocol but how many patients can afford the device in three years; count the last three years of implants before proposing this rather than assuming the programme's stated capacity.
Topic 18 / 44
Link to this entry
Diagnostic yield of head-up tilt table testing in patients presenting with unexplained syncope
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion with a positive response by a stated classification, against the clinical diagnosis reached after full evaluation
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 140 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A tilt table with continuous pressure and rhythm monitoring and trained staff
- A written protocol including the provocation agent and the duration of each phase
- An evaluation pathway that excludes structural and arrhythmic causes first
What derails it
Tilt testing has no clean reference standard, so the comparator is a clinical diagnosis reached by the same team that ordered the test; define the reference explicitly, have it assigned by someone blinded to the tilt result, and do not describe the yield as accuracy against a true diagnosis.
Topic 19 / 44
Link to this entry
Agreement between echocardiographic estimation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure and right heart catheterisation measurement
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Agreement between the two measurements, with the mean difference and limits of agreement
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 60 to 100 paired measurements, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A right heart catheterisation practice with cases occurring regularly
- Echocardiography performed within a stated short interval of the catheterisation
- An echocardiographer blinded to the catheter measurement
What derails it
The two measurements must be close in time and in loading conditions to be comparable, and a study that pairs an outpatient echocardiogram with a catheterisation a fortnight later is measuring two different haemodynamic states; fix a maximum interval in hours and record the actual interval for every pair.
Topic 20 / 44
Link to this entry
Immediate and short-term outcome after transcatheter device closure of secundum atrial septal defect
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Procedural success with absence of significant residual shunt on echocardiography at a stated follow-up point
Collection time
18 months including follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 90 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A structural intervention programme performing device closure regularly
- Transthoracic and, where needed, transoesophageal echocardiography for sizing and follow-up
- A follow-up clinic that sees these patients at fixed intervals
What derails it
Device closure volumes depend on device cost and on scheme reimbursement, which can stop suddenly when a scheme's rate list changes, so confirm the funding route for the devices as well as the clinical volume before building a thesis around the procedure.
Topic 21 / 44
Link to this entry
Maternal cardiac events in pregnant women with valvular heart disease followed through pregnancy and the early postpartum period
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Composite maternal cardiac event rate from enrolment to six weeks postpartum
Collection time
18 months including follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 140 women, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A joint cardiac-obstetric clinic or a formal referral arrangement with obstetrics
- Echocardiography at defined points in pregnancy by a consistent reader
- A delivery and postpartum follow-up route, including for women delivering elsewhere
What derails it
Many of these women deliver at the hospital nearest their home rather than at the cardiac centre, and the events you are counting happen around delivery; secure a postpartum contact plan at enrolment and record the place of delivery, or your event rate will describe only those who came back.
Topic 22 / 44
Link to this entry
Left ventricular recovery at six months in women presenting with peripartum cardiomyopathy
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion with ejection fraction recovery to a stated threshold at six months
Collection time
18 months including follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 40 to 70 women, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An obstetric referral base large enough to yield cases monthly
- Echocardiography at presentation and at fixed follow-up points by one reader
- A defined diagnostic criterion set applied at presentation
What derails it
Case numbers depend entirely on the obstetric referral catchment and not on your effort, so count how many cases the unit actually saw in each of the last three years; if the answer is fifteen a year, design the study around that figure rather than around a sample size you cannot reach.
Topic 23 / 44
Link to this entry
Clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic predictors of one-year outcome in non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Composite of death or heart failure rehospitalisation at one year
Collection time
18 months including one-year follow-up of the early cohort
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 180 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Coronary angiography or an equivalent route to exclude ischaemic aetiology
- A follow-up system with telephone contact and documented rehospitalisation capture
- Echocardiographic measurements by a consistent reader with stored images
What derails it
Rehospitalisation is counted only if it happened at your hospital, and these patients are admitted wherever they decompensate, so a telephone follow-up that asks specifically about admissions elsewhere, with the date and place recorded, is the difference between a usable and an unusable endpoint.
Topic 24 / 44
Link to this entry
Clinical, microbiological and echocardiographic profile of infective endocarditis at a tertiary cardiology centre
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Distribution of causative organisms and valve involvement, with in-hospital outcome
Collection time
8 to 10 months of record work
Sample, as a planning figure
every case meeting the criteria over a stated five to seven years, a complete enumeration rather than a calculated sample
What your unit must already have
- Case records linkable to microbiology and echocardiography reports
- A stated diagnostic criterion set applied retrospectively by two reviewers
- Ethics committee waiver of consent for record review
What derails it
Where antibiotics were started before the blood cultures were drawn the culture may grow nothing, so record prior antibiotic use for every case and report the culture-negative group as a finding in its own right rather than excluding it and describing a selected organism profile.
Topic 25 / 44
Link to this entry
Components of delay from symptom onset to reperfusion in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Median total ischaemic time, broken down into patient, transport and in-hospital components
Collection time
12 to 15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A structured interview at admission to capture symptom onset and first contact times
- Emergency department and catheterisation laboratory timestamps that can be retrieved
- A referral network map, since most patients arrive from another facility
What derails it
Symptom onset time comes from a patient in pain and is frequently rounded to the nearest hour or reported as since morning, so interview with anchoring questions about meals and prayers rather than asking for a clock time, and record how many onset times were estimated.
Topic 26 / 44
Link to this entry
In-hospital outcome after thrombolysis compared with primary percutaneous intervention in ST-elevation myocardial infarction at a referral centre
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Composite in-hospital major adverse cardiac events
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 per group, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A referral base that includes both thrombolysed and directly presenting patients
- A complete record of where and when thrombolysis was given
- An agreed composite endpoint with adjudication by two clinicians
What derails it
Thrombolysed patients arrive late and often already stabilised while the directly presenting ones include those too unstable to transfer, so the two groups differ in ways that no adjustment fully removes; frame the study as a description of a referral pathway rather than as a comparison of two treatments.
Topic 27 / 44
Link to this entry
Comparison of bedside risk scores for predicting in-hospital mortality in acute coronary syndrome
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Discriminative performance of each score for in-hospital death
Collection time
15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 400 to 700 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Admission variables required by every score recorded prospectively on a proforma
- A complete in-hospital outcome record including patients who left against advice
- Statistical support for comparing discrimination between scores
What derails it
Patients who leave against medical advice are often the unwell ones, and counting them as survivors flatters every score; decide in the protocol how they are handled and report the number, because ignoring them silently is the flaw a statistician will find.
Topic 28 / 44
Link to this entry
Angiographic severity and lesion characteristics in diabetic compared with non-diabetic patients undergoing coronary angiography
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of vessel involvement and diffuse disease pattern between the two groups
Collection time
12 to 15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 per group, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A catheterisation laboratory volume sufficient to accrue both groups concurrently
- Angiographic reading blinded to diabetic status, which requires masking clinical data
- A glycaemic assessment that defines diabetes consistently, not by history alone
What derails it
Blinding the angiographic reader to diabetic status is harder than it sounds, because the clinical details sit in the same record the reader uses to identify the case; describe exactly how the masking was done, otherwise the reading will be assumed to be influenced by the label.
Topic 29 / 44
Link to this entry
Attainment of recommended low-density lipoprotein targets in patients on statin therapy after an acute coronary event
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion achieving a stated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol target at a defined interval after the index event
Collection time
12 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A follow-up clinic with patients at least a stated number of months after the event
- Lipid profile testing through the hospital laboratory with a consistent method
- Prescription and adherence history recorded at the same visit
What derails it
Patients who stopped their statin because of cost still attend clinic and will report taking it, so a target attainment figure without a verified adherence question describes the clinic's prescribing rather than the patients' treatment; ask about the last tablet taken and record the brand actually being purchased.
Topic 30 / 44
Link to this entry
Participation in structured cardiac rehabilitation after an acute coronary event and the barriers reported by non-participants
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion attending the stated minimum number of rehabilitation sessions, with reasons for non-attendance
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment and follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An existing rehabilitation programme with an attendance register
- A structured barrier questionnaire administered to non-attenders
- A referral record showing who was advised rehabilitation and when
What derails it
Distance and daily wage loss drive non-attendance, and these patients will not return to the hospital to tell you why, so the barrier questionnaire has to work over the telephone and must be administered by someone other than the rehabilitation team.
Topic 31 / 44
Link to this entry
Left ventricular geometry and mass index in patients with newly detected hypertension
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of left ventricular geometric patterns by mass index and relative wall thickness
Collection time
12 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Echocardiography with standard linear measurements by a consistent reader
- A definition of newly detected hypertension with duration of disease recorded
- Height and weight measured rather than reported, for body surface area indexing
What derails it
Mass index depends on the indexing variable, and in a population where obesity is common, indexing to body surface area rather than height classifies different patients as hypertrophied; name the indexing method and the partition values in the protocol because the whole distribution hinges on it.
Topic 32 / 44
Link to this entry
Cardiac structural and functional abnormalities in patients with chronic kidney disease not on dialysis
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion with left ventricular hypertrophy or systolic dysfunction by stated echocardiographic criteria, across kidney function categories
Collection time
15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 120 to 200 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Nephrology collaboration for a defined, staged patient population
- Echocardiography at a point unaffected by recent volume shifts
- Laboratory estimated glomerular filtration rate by a stated equation
What derails it
Echocardiographic chamber dimensions in kidney disease move with volume status, so scanning one patient before and another after a volume-loaded week produces differences that reflect hydration rather than disease; fix a standard timing relative to clinical euvolaemia and record weight at the scan.
Topic 33 / 44
Link to this entry
Right ventricular function and pulmonary pressures in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion with right ventricular dysfunction by stated echocardiographic measures, against spirometric severity
Collection time
15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 120 to 200 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Pulmonary medicine collaboration for spirometry-confirmed, graded disease
- An echocardiographer experienced in right heart measurements
- Patients studied in a stable state rather than during an exacerbation
What derails it
Hyperinflated chests give poor acoustic windows and the tricuspid regurgitation jet needed for pressure estimation can be unobtainable in a sizeable proportion of them; record how many scans were technically inadequate and report that as a result, since excluding them quietly biases the severity distribution.
Topic 34 / 44
Link to this entry
Ankle brachial index screening for peripheral arterial disease in patients with established coronary artery disease
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion with an ankle brachial index below a stated threshold, by clinical risk profile
Collection time
10 to 12 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A handheld Doppler and a trained operator following a written measurement sequence
- A quiet space where patients can rest supine for the required period before measurement
- A clinic population with angiographically or clinically established coronary disease
What derails it
The index is invalid in heavily calcified vessels, where it reads falsely normal or high, and a calcified vessel is exactly what you may meet in the diabetic patients you most want to detect; state how high values are classified and consider recording toe pressures or waveform, because reporting them as normal misrepresents the finding.
Topic 35 / 44
Link to this entry
Electrocardiographic findings on screening among young competitive sportspersons at a university
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion with findings meeting stated criteria for further cardiac evaluation
Collection time
10 to 12 months of screening
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 400 to 700 participants, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- University and sports authority permission, with consent arrangements for minors
- A portable electrocardiograph and a standard recording protocol
- A defined pathway for evaluating everyone whose tracing meets referral criteria
What derails it
Screening a young population obliges you to evaluate everyone who screens positive and to explain the finding to a healthy person whose sporting career may be affected, so the referral and counselling pathway must be written into the protocol and resourced before the ethics committee sees it.
Topic 36 / 44
Link to this entry
Diagnostic accuracy of stress echocardiography against coronary angiography in patients with chest pain and an intermediate pretest probability
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Sensitivity and specificity for obstructive coronary disease against angiography as the reference standard
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 180 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A stress echocardiography service with trained staff and resuscitation cover
- An arrangement whereby every enrolled patient proceeds to angiography
- Independent blinded interpretation of the stress study and the angiogram
What derails it
Verification bias decides this study: if only patients with a positive stress result go on to angiography, the accuracy figures are meaningless, and requiring angiography in everyone raises both cost and an ethics question you must answer in the protocol.
Topic 37 / 44
Link to this entry
Natriuretic peptide concentration for distinguishing cardiac from non-cardiac dyspnoea in the emergency department
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Sensitivity and specificity at a stated cut-off against a composite clinical and echocardiographic reference diagnosis
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A laboratory assay available at all hours, with documented quality control
- An emergency department pathway that samples at first contact
- A reference diagnosis assigned by two clinicians blinded to the assay result
What derails it
The assay is expensive and will not be funded for a thesis unless the hospital already runs it as a routine test, and if it is run only in working hours your emergency sample is restricted to daytime presentations; confirm the round-the-clock availability and who pays before proposing this.
Topic 38 / 44
Link to this entry
Management and one-year course of angiographically intermediate coronary lesions treated medically
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion undergoing subsequent revascularisation of the index lesion within one year
Collection time
8 to 10 months of record work plus telephone follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 300 lesions, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Angiographic records with quantified or graded stenosis severity
- A catheterisation laboratory database that identifies repeat procedures
- A telephone follow-up route for patients with no recorded repeat visit
What derails it
Intermediate is defined by the operator's eye unless the angiograms are re-measured, and visual estimates cluster at the round figures that define your inclusion band; re-grade the stored runs by a stated method rather than accepting the reported percentage in the catheterisation report.
Topic 39 / 44
Link to this entry
In-hospital course and outcome of patients admitted with cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
In-hospital mortality, with the distribution of supportive and revascularisation strategies used
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 150 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An intensive cardiac care unit with a documented treatment record
- A consistent definition of shock applied at admission
- A record of every intervention with its timing, including support devices
What derails it
A proportion of these patients are taken home by families who decline further treatment, and they neither survive nor count as in-hospital deaths; define how discharge against advice is classified in the primary outcome and report the number, because it materially changes the mortality figure.
Topic 40 / 44
Link to this entry
Presentation and recovery of regional left ventricular dysfunction in patients with suspected stress-induced cardiomyopathy
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Recovery of regional wall motion on echocardiography at a stated follow-up interval
Collection time
18 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 25 to 50 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Coronary angiography to exclude an obstructive culprit lesion in every case
- Baseline and follow-up echocardiography by the same reader with stored loops
- A written diagnostic criterion set applied prospectively
What derails it
Numbers are small and recognition depends on who is on duty, so unless the unit already identifies several such cases a year this will end as a small series; check the last three years of records for how many cases were actually diagnosed before committing to it as a thesis.
Topic 41 / 44
Link to this entry
Left ventricular remodelling at six months after anterior myocardial infarction and its early predictors
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Change in left ventricular end-diastolic volume index from discharge to six months
Collection time
18 months including six-month follow-up of the early cohort
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 160 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Echocardiography with volumetric measurement by a consistent stated method
- A single reader for all paired studies, with stored images for re-measurement
- A follow-up appointment system that achieves the six-month scan
What derails it
Volume change is small relative to measurement error, so a second reader or a repeat measurement on a subset is essential to show your reproducibility; without a documented intra-observer variability figure, a reviewer will say the remodelling you report is within the noise of the method.
Topic 42 / 44
Link to this entry
Admission haemoglobin and in-hospital outcome in patients with acute coronary syndrome
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Composite in-hospital adverse event rate across admission haemoglobin categories
Collection time
12 to 15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 300 to 500 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Admission haemoglobin measured before any transfusion or fluid loading
- A complete in-hospital event record with an adjudicated composite endpoint
- A proforma capturing bleeding events and transfusion during the stay
What derails it
Haemoglobin measured after aggressive fluid resuscitation is a dilution artefact, and the sickest patients receive the most fluid before the sample is drawn; record the timing of the sample relative to admission and to fluid administration, and exclude post-transfusion values by a stated rule.
Topic 43 / 44
Link to this entry
Predictors of thirty-day readmission after an admission for acute decompensated heart failure
DesignCohortFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Readmission for any cardiac cause within thirty days of discharge
Collection time
15 to 18 months of enrolment and follow-up
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A discharge register with discharge weight, renal function and medication recorded
- A telephone follow-up at thirty days with a structured question set
- An agreed definition of a cardiac readmission, including admissions elsewhere
What derails it
Readmissions to other hospitals are invisible in your records and you cannot assume they are few, so the thirty-day call must ask specifically whether the patient was admitted anywhere, with the hospital name and dates recorded, and you should report how many events came from that source.
Topic 44 / 44
Link to this entry
Thyroid function abnormalities among patients presenting with newly detected atrial fibrillation
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion with a biochemical thyroid abnormality by stated laboratory reference ranges
Collection time
12 to 15 months of enrolment
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Thyroid function testing through the hospital laboratory with a stated method
- A documented definition of newly detected atrial fibrillation
- A drug history, since amiodarone and other agents affect the result
What derails it
Acute illness itself alters thyroid function tests, and many of these patients are sampled during a decompensation, so record whether the sample was taken in the acute phase and repeat abnormal values after recovery rather than reporting a single acute-phase result as a diagnosis.

The designs

What each design commits you to

The designs in this DM Cardiology register

The design is not a label on the title; it decides your ethics route, your timetable and the test that answers your primary question. Only the designs that appear above are explained here.

Cross-sectional
14 topics
One contact per participant. Usually the quickest to complete, and the design most often chosen when time is short.
Prospective observational
12 topics
Participants are followed after enrolment without allocating an intervention. Ethics approval must precede the first enrolment.
Retrospective
4 topics
Existing records only. Faster, but limited by what was recorded, and a waiver of consent is normally sought from the ethics committee.
Comparative interventional
1 topic
Two or more arms compared. Ethics scrutiny is heavier, and the protocol must state how allocation is handled.
Randomised controlled
1 topic
Allocation is randomised. Prospective interventional studies are registered with the Clinical Trials Registry of India before the first participant is enrolled.
Diagnostic accuracy
3 topics
An index test measured against a reference standard. The sample size depends on the expected sensitivity or specificity and the prevalence in your setting.
Cohort
9 topics
A defined group followed over time. Attrition is the usual threat, so plan for it in the sample size.

What the feasibility mark means

A judgement about a typical teaching unit, not about yours. Confirm the volume, the equipment and the co-operation a topic needs before your synopsis goes in, because after that the timetable stops being negotiable^[2].

Straightforward
14 topics
Achievable in most teaching units with routine caseload and no equipment beyond what is already in use.
Moderate
22 topics
Achievable, but needs either a specific piece of equipment, a collaborating department, or a caseload you should confirm before committing.
Demanding
8 topics
Only take this on if your unit already has the volume, the equipment and the co-operation it needs. Confirm all three before your synopsis goes in.

Next steps

Before you commit to one

What to do with a topic you like

Three steps, in this order. None of them is us: the first is arithmetic, the second is your guide, the third is a search only you can run.

Do the arithmetic
The figure on each plate is a planning range, not an answer. Put your own assumptions — the difference you would call clinically meaningful, the variability you expect, the power you want — into the free sample size calculator, then divide the result by the eligible patients your unit sees in a month and see whether the months you have left permit it.
Take it to your guide
Nothing on this page is approved by anybody. Your guide and your department decide what is feasible in your unit, and your ethics committee decides whether it may start — before the first participant, not before the analysis^[5]. Where your university ordinance is stricter than anything here, the ordinance wins^[1].
Run the search yourself
We make no claim that any question here is novel, under-studied or a gap, because that depends on a literature search run today in your own field. Read what the search returns before you write the introduction, and be ready to say why the question is worth asking in your setting.

What a thesis in this field has to satisfy — the obligations, the statistics and the questions residents ask first — is set out on the DM Cardiology page. Other specialties are in the topic bank index, and the method is worked through in the guides.

Undertakings

Mechanisms, not promises

What protects your draft, and who owns the work

Each line below is a mechanism this platform implements or a published instrument it is built around. None of them is a guarantee, and we are affiliated with no regulator or university.

Protection of your work

Row-level security
Every table enforces row-level access. You read your own record, and nothing else.
View-only streaming
Drafts are streamed to you through an authenticated route, not handed over as a file.
Watermarked to you
Every page you read carries your own name and email across it.
Download gated
The final file unlocks when the fee is settled in full, and not before.
Mumbai region · DPDP 2023
Your record and your documents are held in the Mumbai region, so India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 applies to them.
Anonymised data only
We accept no patient identifiers. An NDA is available on request.

How this works

Instruments we work to

NMC PGMER-2023
The thesis obligations set out in the postgraduate medical education regulations.
NBEMS
DNB and DrNB protocol and thesis timelines, and the page limit, as published.
UGC 2018 · <10%
The academic integrity convention we work to on every draft.
ICMJE · Vancouver
Authorship criteria and reference style, applied as published.
No affiliation
We work to these published instruments. We are affiliated to none of the bodies that issue them.

How this works

Authorship and the uniqueness check

Sole author
Mentoring, editing, statistics and compliance. You remain the sole author of your thesis.
Not ghostwriting
We will not write your thesis for you, and we will not be named in it.
MDSoftune
Word-level uniqueness checking, built with REDENN Informatics Inc., Canada.
Every version
Each draft is checked word by word before your university sees it.

How this works

MDThesis is an independent academic mentorship practice. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the NMC, NBEMS, UGC or any university.

Free feasibility call

Tell us where your thesis stands. A senior doctor will tell you what to do next.

A senior doctor replies within one working day. No obligation. MD, MS, DNB, DrNB, DM, MCh, MDS and international programmes.

Request for a feasibility call

No obligation

Reply within one working day · No obligation · Your details are not shared

Prefer to write to us first? Contact the practice. We mentor and edit; you remain the sole author of your thesis.

References

[1]
Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, National Medical Commission. In force 1 January 2024. Thesis requirements at Regulation 5.2. nmc.org.in
[2]
DNB and DrNB thesis guidelines, National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences. Protocol within 180 days of joining for three-year courses and 90 days for the two-year post-diploma DNB; research study complete by 24 months; thesis by 26 months; 80-page limit inclusive of certificates and annexures. natboard.edu.in
[5]
National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants, 2017, Indian Council of Medical Research. Ethics approval precedes data collection. icmr.gov.in
[6]
Counts of specialties, tracked stages, supported currencies and supported countries are structural facts of this platform, read from its own configuration rather than from a claim.

Document: Topic bank — DM Cardiology · Revision 1 · Last reviewed 10 SEPT 2026

Issued by MDThesis, a brand of REDENN Informatics Private Limited

DM Cardiology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for eachDM Cardiology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for each

Angiographic profile and conventional risk factor distribution in patients under forty presenting with ST-elevation myocardial infarction

Clinical, angiographic and procedural factors associated with no-reflow during primary percutaneous coronary intervention

Transradial versus transfemoral access for coronary angiography and intervention: access site complications and procedural parameters

Peri-procedural intravenous hydration regimens and contrast-associated acute kidney injury after coronary angiography in patients with impaired renal function

Anatomical complexity score and in-hospital outcome in patients undergoing percutaneous intervention for multivessel coronary disease

Stent thrombosis after percutaneous coronary intervention: frequency, timing and associated factors over five years

Adherence to dual antiplatelet therapy in the first year after percutaneous coronary intervention and the reasons for discontinuation

Fragmented QRS on the surface electrocardiogram and left ventricular systolic function after acute myocardial infarction

Left ventricular global longitudinal strain in patients with type 2 diabetes and a normal ejection fraction

Echocardiographic profile and clinical characteristics of patients presenting with heart failure and a preserved ejection fraction

Six-minute walk distance and its relation to echocardiographic and clinical variables in patients with chronic heart failure

Immediate and six-month haemodynamic outcome after balloon mitral valvotomy in rheumatic mitral stenosis

Clinical and echocardiographic profile of patients with rheumatic heart disease presenting to a tertiary cardiology service

Stroke risk profile and anticoagulation practice in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation attending a cardiology service

Recurrence of atrial fibrillation after successful cardioversion and the factors associated with it

Indications, lead parameters and early complications after permanent pacemaker implantation over three years

Clinical and echocardiographic response six months after cardiac resynchronisation therapy

Diagnostic yield of head-up tilt table testing in patients presenting with unexplained syncope

Agreement between echocardiographic estimation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure and right heart catheterisation measurement

Immediate and short-term outcome after transcatheter device closure of secundum atrial septal defect

Maternal cardiac events in pregnant women with valvular heart disease followed through pregnancy and the early postpartum period

Left ventricular recovery at six months in women presenting with peripartum cardiomyopathy

Clinical, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic predictors of one-year outcome in non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy

Clinical, microbiological and echocardiographic profile of infective endocarditis at a tertiary cardiology centre

Components of delay from symptom onset to reperfusion in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction

In-hospital outcome after thrombolysis compared with primary percutaneous intervention in ST-elevation myocardial infarction at a referral centre

Comparison of bedside risk scores for predicting in-hospital mortality in acute coronary syndrome

Angiographic severity and lesion characteristics in diabetic compared with non-diabetic patients undergoing coronary angiography

Attainment of recommended low-density lipoprotein targets in patients on statin therapy after an acute coronary event

Participation in structured cardiac rehabilitation after an acute coronary event and the barriers reported by non-participants

Left ventricular geometry and mass index in patients with newly detected hypertension

Cardiac structural and functional abnormalities in patients with chronic kidney disease not on dialysis

Right ventricular function and pulmonary pressures in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Ankle brachial index screening for peripheral arterial disease in patients with established coronary artery disease

Electrocardiographic findings on screening among young competitive sportspersons at a university

Diagnostic accuracy of stress echocardiography against coronary angiography in patients with chest pain and an intermediate pretest probability

Natriuretic peptide concentration for distinguishing cardiac from non-cardiac dyspnoea in the emergency department

Management and one-year course of angiographically intermediate coronary lesions treated medically

In-hospital course and outcome of patients admitted with cardiogenic shock complicating acute myocardial infarction

Presentation and recovery of regional left ventricular dysfunction in patients with suspected stress-induced cardiomyopathy

Left ventricular remodelling at six months after anterior myocardial infarction and its early predictors

Admission haemoglobin and in-hospital outcome in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Predictors of thirty-day readmission after an admission for acute decompensated heart failure

Thyroid function abnormalities among patients presenting with newly detected atrial fibrillation

What the feasibility mark means

Tell us where your thesis stands. A senior doctor will tell you what to do next.

DM Cardiology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for each