Active clinical trials for "Heart and Blood Diseases"

Objectives: The overall objective of this project is to identify risk factors associated with the development of multiple myeloma (MM) by integrating epidemiologic, clinical and molecular information. We plan to invite MDACC patients with MM, as well as controls, to participate in this investigative case-control study. Controls will be selected from friends and spouses who accompany patients to the various MDACC clinics and will be matched to the cases on age (±5 years), gender, and ethnicity. We will obtain demographic, risk factor and clinical information along with a blood and buccal sample from all cases and controls. This study could have implications for prevention and subsequent reduction in the incidence of multiple myeloma. Collecting blood and buccal samples will allow us to study the role genetic susceptibility plays in MM risk. The specific aims are: To enroll and obtain, through self-administered questionnaires, risk factor information on all study participants to develop detailed demographic, epidemiologic, and behavioral profiles. This study will accrue 250 MM patients from MDACC and 250 healthy controls selected from friends and spouses who accompany patients to the MDACC clinics. Blood (25 ml) and buccal samples will be collected from all participants. To identify risk factors associated with MM by integrating epidemiological, clinical and molecular information using a case-control approach. To evaluate constitutional markers of genetic susceptibility as predictors of MM risk. Gene-environment interactions will be explored.

The aim of the study is to evaluate whether orthostatic hypotension is associated with nondipping hypertension. Methods and patients: 400 subjects who are referred for 24hABPM will be filled questioner regarding their medical background and medications. All patients will be subjected to orthostatic test before connection to the 24 ABPM. The orthostatic changes in blood pressure and heart rate will be correlated to the changes in blood pressure and heart rate from day to night as recorded by the 24H ABPM.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the use of drug eluting stents is associated with higher rates of death, myocardial infarction, and major bleeding. In addition, the overall economic costs of implanting drug eluting stents compared to bare metal stents will be assessed.

Catheter ablation using radiofrequency is a new therapeutic tool to treat atrial fibrillation with a higher success rate than medical therapy (80% versus less than 50% respectively). Because of the length of the intervention and of the risk of complications of the procedure, it would be important to determine success rate before the intervention. The information gained from this study will in all probability improve our estimation of the chances of a successful intervention and may enable us to take necessary therapeutic measures in case of an elevated risk of recurrence. Multiple studies suggest that the 2 markers in this study could provide information of this nature, however, their utility in the radiofrequency catheter ablation treatment of atrial fibrillation has never been demonstrated.

It is possible to measure skeletal muscle tissue oxygenation (StO2) using near infrared spectroscopy(NIRS). It is performed non invasively. We want to compare usually used invasive methods for assessing adequacy of flow to StO2 in critically ill. Aim is to faster and non invasively estimate adequacy of flow to make therapeutic algorithms efficient.

CT of the abdomen is a very common examination performed for various indications.One of the common findings is vascular calcifications including calcifications of the renal arteries.Calcifications in the carotid arteries and coronary arteries are good predictor for obstructive atherosclerotic disease.Stenosis of the renal arteries can cause symptomatic or asymptomatic hypertension with subsequent clinical sequelae. Therefore early diagnosis of this condition is imperative. The goal of our study is to investigate the correlation between incidental calcifications of the renal arteries in CT examinations and the presence of actual stenosis of these vessels in patients with and without hypertension.

There is increasing interest in myocardial abnormalities following central nervous system events, such as subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). These cardiac abnormalities include ECG changes, decreased cardiac output, decreased blood pressure, specific cardiac enzyme elevations, and segmental wall motion abnormalities (SWMA). Interestingly, wall motion abnormalities and ECG changes have shown to be reversible, and therefore the dysfunction has been described as neurogenic myocardial stunning. The pathophysiology of cardiac dysfunction following SAH has not yet been fully elucidated. Many reports (mainly case reports) have been published, but so far no study has investigated the frequency of these abnormalities in a prospective manner, have correlated the occurrence of the different cardiac abnormalities, and have assessed which clinical variables can predict cardiac dysfunction. And only a limited number of studies have related neurological outcome with cardiac dysfunction.

OBJECTIVES: I. Compare the total daily energy expenditure in infants with ventricular septal defects vs healthy control infants.

To evaluate the gender-related elements, a first step will be to analyze the impact of sex ratio on different parameters such as age in endocarditis and the type of underlying valvulopathy and other associated comorbidities.

To analyze the prevalence and impact on the prognosis of amyloidosis due to transthyretin in patients with severe aortic stenosis who undergo percutaneous aortic valve implantation.