Active clinical trials for "Heart and Blood Diseases"

Diabetic foot ulcer is the commonest cause of severe limb ischemia in diabetes mellitus And development of anemia is an additional burden to the microvascular complications of diabetes

EndoAnchors (Heli-FX device, Medtronic, Santa Rosa) have beed described to improve fixation (mimicking an open surgical anastomosis) during or after EVAR/TEVAR. The investigators want to describe the outcomes of all consecutive patients treated with this device (retrospective and prospective data - observational study)

To determine the incidence and factors associated with heart rupture (HR) in acute myocardial infarction patients.

This study is to see if the zero-heat-flux (ZHF) thermometry monitoring in cardiac surgery with moderate hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass differs from Temp-NP, which reflects central body temperature 30 minutes after the end of the cardiac surgery.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most frequent cause of chronic liver disease in our environment. Preliminary data suggest that portal hypertension may exist in the initial phases of NAFLD due to mechanisms that have not yet been elucidated. The clinical relevance of its development in these initial phases is unknown, while in more advanced phases new data are required to confirm the close relationship between portal hypertension and the risk of decompensation described in other etiologies. Likewise, the influence of fibrosis and portal hypertension on the cardiovascular risk of patients with NAFLD is unknown. The aim of the present multicenter project is to characterize the presence of portal hypertension and the mechanisms involved in its development in the different stages of NAFLD, to assess the association between the degree of portal hypertension and the development of portal hypertension-related complications, to know the early cardiovascular risk in the different stages of the disease, and to identify noninvasive biomarkers of the presence and severity of portal hypertension.

Major lung resection is associated with high post-operative morbidity and mortality and significant long-term decreased functional capacity, especially due to cardiorespiratory complications. RV (Right Ventricle) ejection, pulmonary artery pressure and tone are tightly coupled. The RV is exquisitely sensitive to changes in afterload. When pulmonary vascular reserve is compromised RV ejection may be also compromised, increasing right atrial pressure and limiting maximal cardiac output. Acute increase in RV outflow resistance, as may occur with acute pulmonary embolism will cause acute RV dilatation and, by ventricular interdependence, markedly decreased LV (Left Ventricle) compliance, rapidly spiraling to acute cardiogenic shock and death. Most of the studies on RV function after lung resection are small and have found different results, and sometimes conflicting findings. As far as the investigators know, there are no data on the incidence of the RV dysfunction after major lung resection (pneumonectomy/bilobectomy) and it's not clear if there is some direct association between the RV dysfunction and post-operative complications. If so, early detection of RV dysfunction after major lung resection could provide the opportunity for interventional therapy with consequent possible improvement of these patients' prognosis.

Imaging the inside of coronary arteries (intravascular imaging) offers great insight into the assessment and treatment of coronary artery disease. Over time, substances such as fat, cholesterol and calcium can build up into 'plaques' in the arteries, causing narrowings or even blockages. These plaques can also rupture, causing cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or strokes. By using ultrasound and infrared technology, intravascular imaging can help assess these plaques, however this is an invasive technique involving angiography. Plaque composition, structure and stability can be affected by inflammation and the stress that the arteries are under. The investigators have pioneered novel minimally-invasive methods for modelling arterial stress using computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA), as well as imaging coronary arterial inflammation using a positron emission tomography (PET) scan. Before embarking upon a large-scale clinical outcome study to determine whether these novel methods can improve risk prediction, the aim is to perform a proof-of-principle study to further develop our methodology for hybrid image analysis, and to validate this technique against high-resolution intravascular imaging as a surrogate marker of histology.

This is a non-randomized, un-blinded study to evaluate Caption Health guidance software in patients in the medical surgery step-down unit. Patients will be scanned by a trained hospitalist and up to 4 standard views will be obtained per participant: PLAX, PSAX-PM, AP4 and SubC4. Observations will be made regarding human factors and performance of the device.

This study is aimed at providing an Italian version of two assessment tools for participation in stroke patients, the Frenchay Activity Index (FAI) and the Walking Handicap Classification (WHC) by a standardized translation and transcultural validation protocol. The protocol includes a pre-test of the Italian version on ten patients, a final revision, and a validation on a sample of 60 stroke patients.

The study is designed as a non-interventional, multicenter, prospective single-arm study to observe the therapy with REMODULIN (Treprostinil) applicated by an implantable pump in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).