Active clinical trials for "Heart and Blood Diseases"

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of stress echocardiography, compared to standard echocardiography in the early identification of pulmonary arterial hypertension in systemic sclerosis. To evaluate the role of BNP in this setting.To analyze data recorded with respect to the parameters commonly used for SSc evaluation (eg thorax HRCT, pulmonary function tests + DLCO, nailfold capillaroscopy, etc); these parameters are available starting for 1999.

Trouble breathing (dyspnea) is a nonspecific symptom associated with many diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (lung disorder in which the flow of air to the lungs is blocked), asthma, pneumonia, pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs), congestive heart failure (fluid build-up in the lungs because the heart is not pumping normally) and pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs). The purpose of this study is to test two blood markers called ST2 and IL-33. Blood markers are proteins or other compounds in your blood that physicians use to diagnose different diseases and to determine what the course of an illness will be. In preliminary research studies, ST2 and IL-33 have been elevated in patients with a wide variety of diseases where the lungs are the primary organs involved. This research study will further investigate the ability of ST2 and IL-33 to predict the severity of disease and the possible use of ST2 and IL-33 in the diagnosis of various lung diseases.

To compare mitral valve area in rheumatic mitral valve stenosis with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and conventional transthoracic echocardiography.

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively analyze the results of ambulatory treatment on Taiwanese patients with primary varicosities of the lower extremities including the use of endovenous laser, phlebectomy, and sclerotherapy. METHODS: We routinely used tumescent anesthesia and ultrasound-guided approaches for the application of endovenous laser. Vein access was achieved by either a percutaneous or stab wound. The laser power was usually 10 - 20 watts; laser treatment usually was begun from 4-10 cm below the saphenofemoral junction, and stopped around the knee, not over 10 cm below the knee. In the same operation, we used Mueller's phlebectomy and/or sclerotherapy if there were prominent branch varicosities. We instructed each patient to walk around immediately after the operation, to go home, and to come back 1-3 days later for follow-up. Ultrasound scan and venous function follow-up was scheduled at 1 month, 6 months, 12 months, and then annually.

This is a prospective, multi-center, non-randomized trial to study one-year outcomes of the Wingspan system for the treatment of Chinese patients with symptomatic atherosclerotic severe intracranial stenosis.

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.

In the literature, cases of thrombosis in the venous system have been described in girls and women with Turner syndrome. By screening a group of women with Turner syndrome, the researchers wish to find out if this condition is more frequent in this patient population.

The purpose of this study is to observe delayed neuronal death of hippocampus after middle cerebral artery infarction in human beings.

Less than 10% of all ischemic stroke patients are treated by intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) as most present later than the accepted 3 hour time window. Intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) is possible 3-6 hours post ictus, but is infrequently used. Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) with a MERCI device is a new intervention possibility but lacks large randomized studies. Although it is desirable to treat more stroke patients, clinical information and plain CT alone are insufficient to discriminate which patients are most likely to benefit or be harmed from treatment. Advanced imaging techniques can help predict patient outcome and provide the necessary information to weigh expected benefit against associated risk of treatment. Visualizing the penumbra, the hypoperfused tissue at risk of infarction around the irreversible infarct core, is one way of identifying patients most likely to benefit from intervention. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based selection of patients with sufficient penumbra for thrombolysis is possible, however, MR has less 24-hour availability than CT in the acute setting. Plain CT is mostly used to exclude intracerebral hemorrhage, and can easily be extended with CT perfusion (CTP) and CT angiography (CTA). CTP compares well to MRI for imaging penumbra and infarct core, and it is faster and more feasible than MRI. Other image findings such as infarct core size and leakage of the blood-brain-barrier (permeability) on CTP, and site and extent of the occlusion and collateral circulation on CTA also influence stroke outcome but have not been combined in one study to assess their combined predictive value. Hypothesis: The investigators hypothesize that combined CTP and CTA parameters can predict patient outcome in acute ischemic stroke.