Active clinical trials for "Heart and Blood Diseases"

Trial of new work in progress (WIP) sequences in MRI.

This study will have significant impact on muscular dystrophy patients as it promotes early screening for heart disease. With early identification, beneficial medical therapy can be started sooner, resulting in restoring and maintaining normal heart function. This is critical to the survival of these patients. We have reported previously that heart failure in all patients may have common mechanisms, the "final common pathway". Heart failure is a significant health problem with 5 million people in the US carrying the diagnosis and accounting for 12-15 million office visits and 6.5 million hospital days per year. The number of deaths from heart failure continues to increase. The data from this study could impact patients worldwide with heart failure by offering new insight into an ever-growing disease population and lead to significant changes in how they are currently treated.

Any time the words "you," "your," "I," or "me" appear, it is meant to apply to the potential participant. The goal of this laboratory research study is to collect and store blood and tissue from patients who have a diagnosis of heart disease and may be at a high risk for the development of heart failure. This blood may be used in the future to identify genes that may play a role in developing congestive heart failure (CHF) from chemotherapy or other sources. This is an investigational study. All will be enrolled at MD Anderson.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western societies. It is a complex genetic disorder with many genes involved and significant gene-environment interactions. The aim of the study is to identify novel genetic- and biological-markers of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is assessed in the coronary arteries using coronary angiography as well as in the carotid artery (intima-media-thickness) and peripheral vessels (ankle brachial index). Association analysis of genetic and metabolic markers with atherosclerotic burden will be performed to identify novel factors of disposition to atherosclerotic vascular disease.

Retrospective analysis of all patients receiving TAVI in the United Kingdom (UK). Stroke rates following TAVI are roughly 3%. There are several device and procedure related characteristics which may increase the risk of stroke. We will examine if there is a signal in the UK registry. This will be important is TAVI is to be extended down to lower risk patient cohorts.

Portal hypertension (PH) results from the increase of portal flow resistance in fibrotic tissue of the liver in patients with chronic liver diseases, leading to complications such as varices formation and variceal bleeding, ascites formation, spleenomegaly and hypersplenismus, systemic haemodynamic disorders and porto-systemic shunts formation. Early detection of PH in patients with chronic liver diseases is clinically important as it should change patient management in order to prevent the formation/onset or recurrence of PH complications. Hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) measurement is the gold standard for the assessment of the severity of PH. However, it is an invasive method with its risks, and relatively costly. On the other hand transient elastography (TE) emerged as a non-invasive, easy, safe and low cost method with the potential to assess the severity of PH, as liver stiffness (LS) and spleen stiffens (SS) measured by TE showed very good correlation with HVPG. Real-time 2D shear wave elastography (RT-2D-SWE) is an ultrasound elastography method reliable for non-invasive assessment of fibrosis stage especially in chronic viral hepatitis, but only preliminary data exist on the correlation of RT-2D-SWE measured LS/SS with and HVPG. In this study we hypothesized that LS and SS measured by RT-2D-SWE correlate with HVPG enabling RT-2D-SWE to be used for the assessment of severity of PH. The primary aim of this study is to analyse correlation between LS and SS as assessed by RT-2D-SWE and TE with the grade of portal hypertension as assessed by HVPG. The secondary aims are: 1) to analyse clinical outcomes of these patients in order to determine if LS and/or SS as assessed by RT-2D-SWE might predict adverse outcomes (liver decompensation, death or HCC development), and 2) to compare clinical performance (AUC) of RT-2D-SWE and TE for the assessment of the PH severity as well as for predicting clinical outcomes. Patients with suspicion of having compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) as assesed by non-invasive methods (transabdominal ultrasound, laboratory findings, FIB-4 and APRI score, and LS measurements by TE), will be included. Since positive predictive value of non-invasive methods for cirrhosis is generally not very reliable, these patients will be offered transjugular liver biopsy and HVPG measurements as gold-standard methods to define the stage of liver disease and severity of PH. These patients will undergo LS and SS measurements by RT-2D-SWE on Aixplorer SuperSonic Imagine ultrasound system and HVPG measurements as well, with transjugular liver biopsy performed during the same session. After SWE™ and HVPG measurement, 5-year follow-up is planned, including standard surveillance: laboratory findings, transabdominal US every six months and upper-GI endoscopy according to relevant guidelines, as well as treatment according to relevant guidelines as indicated: beta blockers, endoscopic variceal ligation, etiologic treatment and dietary measures. Appropriate statistical analysis will be undertaken after the enrollment period, as well as after follow-up period.

TAVI induced LBBB is a complication that occurs between 7 and 65 % of the cases, numbers that differ considerably between devices. There is an increased risk of progression to total AV-block at follow-up, with the risk of brady-arrhythmic death. The aim of the study is to elucidate the anatomical location of the conduction pathology of a TAVI induced LBBB. This could impact valve design and placement and thereby reduce the number of new LBBB induced by TAVI in the future. Furthermore, finding predictors for progression to a high degree AV block in the follow-up (and thus an indication for permanent pacemaker) could improve management of post-operative conduction abnormalities and prevent the risk of brady-arrhythmic death.

Prospective, observational study aimed to investigate the specific hemostatic alterations in patients undergoing glial tumor resection.

Multicentric, observational, retrospective registry including patients underwent ICD implantation for any indication. The primary aim of the registry is to evaluate the long-term outcome of patients receiving an ICD.

30 patients suffering from Heart Failure with Ejection Fraction less than 40% start Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme, serum KLOTHO Hormone level and other labs and Echo measurements will be taken on the first visit. After completion of 3-month Rehabilitation Programme the second set of labs and Echo measurements will be taken. Than participants will be divided for 2 groups: the patients who wish to continue Rehabilitation programme for additional 3-month period and the second group that prefer to stop Rehabilitation programme after completion of the first 3 month period. For both groups additional set of labs will be taken this time and at the end of the study. The Aim of the study: to investigate association between serum KLOTHO level, physical activity and possible correlation with laboratory and echocardiographic parameters in cohort of Heart Failure patients.