Active clinical trials for "Atherosclerosis"

The present investigation will be a Phase II, single center, placebo-controlled, randomized, dose escalation, infusion modality (intracoronary vs transendocardial injection using the Cordis Biosense NOGASTAR TM Mapping Catheter with the Biosense MYOSTAR TM left ventricular injection catheter) transplantation of an autologous (your own stem cells) combination of bone marrow-derived stem cells into myocardium for the treatment of severe coronary ischemia. The purpose of this research study is to determine if the infusion of a combination of stem cells obtained from the bone marrow of the same patient will contribute to the formation of new blood vessels in patients with symptomatic severe coronary ischemia(CI). In this trial we will determine whether the combination stem cell treatment is safe, feasible and results in the development of mature stable and/or collateral vessels and improvement of cardiac function. Coronary Ischemia (CI) is intractable angina due to severe coronary artery disease which can seriously decrease blood flow to the heart. CI needs a comprehensive treatment since the condition will not improve on its own. The overall goal of the treatment is to increase blood flow to the heart and improve symptoms of angina. The study hypothesis is based on the concept that the process of formation of new blood vessels is complex and requires the participation of several types of stem cells and growth factors. The lack of any of these components will produce vessels which are immature and unable to provide appropriate blood supply to the heart. Patients eligible to participate in this study are those suffering from severe blockages of the vessels of the heart and are not candidates for percutaneous revascularization or surgical procedures.

The retinal vessels have been shown to reflect vascular changes inherent to systemic pathologies, even when no ocular disease is identified. As such, the eye's vasculature is ableto serve as a window to the vascular health of the human body and a means of assessing systemic endothelial function. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) employs optical means to image all the retinal vascular layers and the choroid, providing an extremely detailed image of the microvascular network in a fast, reproducible and totally non-invasive way. As such, it is currently the best non-invasive way of having an image of human capillaries. Recently, OCTA has been used to study the retinal vessels' structure and function in several cardiovascular diseases. As an example of its predictive potential, reduced retinal microvascular density has been associated with the cardiovascular risk profile in patients admitted to the hospital for an acute coronary syndrome. Recent studies have also shown the retinal microvasculature density to be reduced in patients with carotid artery disease (CAD), namely carotid stenosis, and that endarterectomy increases retinal flow and vessel density.

Cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS) was initially described as a clinical syndrome following carotid endarterectomy (CEA), but it may present in both CEA and carotid artery stenting, and is characterised by throbbing ipsilateral frontotemporal or periorbital headache, and sometimes diffuse headache, eye and face pain, vomiting, confusion, macular oedema, and visual disturbances, focal motor seizures with frequent secondary generalisation, focal neurological deficits, and intracerebral or subarachnoid haemorrhage. Knowledge of CHS among physicians is limited. Most studies report incidences of CHS of 1-3% after carotid endarterectomy. CHS is most common in patients with increases of more than 100% in perfusion compared with baseline after carotid revascularization procedures and is rare in patients with increases in perfusion less than 100% compared with baseline. The pathophysiological mechanism of CHS remains only partially understood. The chronic lowflow state induced by severe carotid disease results in a compensatory dilation of cerebral vessels distal to the stenosis, as part of the normal autoregulatory response, to maintain adequate cerebral blood flow (CBF). In this chronically dilated state, the vessels lose their ability to autoregulate vascular resistance in response to changes in blood pressure. In fact, it has been shown that this dysautoregulation is proportional to the duration and severity of chronic hypoperfusion. After revascularization and reperfusion, the impaired cerebral autoregulation could then contribute to a cascade of intracranial microcirculatory changes, as explained above, with an inability of reaction toward the augmentation of the CBF after the carotid recanalization. Although most patients have mild symptoms and signs, progression to severe and life-threatening symptoms can occur if CHS is not recognised and treated adequately. Because CHS is a diagnosis based on several non-specific signs and symptoms, patients may be misdiagnosed as having one of the better-known causes of perioperative complications like thromboembolism.

The Beijing Hospital Atherosclerosis Study (BHAS) is a prospective, single-center, observational cohort study performed at the Beijing Hospital in Beijing, China. Subjects enrolled in this study will be the consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography in the hospital. Blood samples are taken immediately before the angiographic procedure. Clinical and angiographic characteristics are recorded. All patients will have routine follow-up at 6 months and 1 year postprocedure, then yearly thereafter. Follow-up includes mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, rehospitalization, coronary revascularization procedures, life styles, and medication use. The primary end point for the study will be the major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as death from any cause, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke and revascularization. This study has been reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Hospital. All enrolled individuals will be received written notice of the intended use of their blood samples and provided written consent. The major objectives of the BHAS Study are to (1) establish a prospective cohort and a biological sample bank in ethnic Chinese with coronary angiography, (2) identify baseline new biosignature profiles such as novel biomarkers via metabolomics approach associated with the subsequent clinical events, (3) assess the use of molecular profiles from multiple platforms (eg, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics) integrated with readily available clinical information for improved risk classification for cardiovascular events, and (4) provide clearer understanding of underlying disease processes.

Endothelial dysfunction has been demonstrated to be an early marker of coronary artery disease (CAD). On the other hand, myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (MP-SPECT) is a widely used technique for evaluation of patients with suspected or known CAD. Preliminary data suggest that myocardial perfusion heterogeneity (a potential surrogate marker of endothelial dysfunction) can be assessed on conventional MP-SPECT, but its additive and independent prognostic value over the presence of myocardial ischemia remain unknown. More over, factual data demonstrate that inhalation of particulate matters and gaz (NO2, CO) from air pollution contributes to the development of cardiovascular diseases in the short and long term. The role of air pollution in endothelial dysfunction has been suggested. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the prognostic value of myocardial perfusion heterogeneity assessed by a new automatized image processing method applied to routine MP-SPECT. The second purpose is to evaluate the role of air pollution exposure in pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. The main hypothesis is that the presence of myocardial perfusion heterogeneity is predictive of 2-year cardiovascular events in patients referred to the Nuclear Cardiology Department for routine evaluation of known or suspected CAD. The second hypothesis is that microcirculatory coronary dysfunction is a causal link between air pollution and cardiovascular disease.

Increasing evidence suggests that systemic low-grade inflammation may be a driving force of cardiometabolic complications, such as vascular dysfunction, atherosclerosis and ischemic heart disease. Thus, we will investigate the role of inflammation in cardiovascular disease.

Apply CT angiography, CT perfusion imaging and advanced image processing techniques to improve revascularization decision-making and surgical strategies in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

This study aims to assess the prevalence and severity of dementia in an established cohort of community-dwelling older adults living in three neighboring rural Ecuadorian villages (Atahualpa, El Tambo, and Prosperidad), as well as to evaluate clinical and neuroimaging correlates of dementia in the study population. By the use of the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDRS), the study also aims to assess the lower cutoff of the MoCA that better correlates with the occurrence of dementia in the study population. In addition, this study will provides grounds for the initiation of a prospective cohort study to assess factors influencing the development of dementia in the follow-up.

Among patients with ischemic heart disease who are referred for coronary angiography, a substantial proportion have non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Myocardial infarction (MI) with non-obstructive coronary artery disease (MINOCA) accounts for 5-20% of patients with MI and preferentially affects women. MINOCA pathogenesis is varied and may include atherosclerotic plaque rupture, plaque erosion with thrombosis, vasospasm, embolization, dissection or a combination of mechanisms. Other patients may have clinically unrecognized myocarditis, or takotsubo syndrome masquerading as MI. Among patients referred for coronary angiography for the evaluation of stable ischemic heart disease, non-obstructive CAD is present in up to ~30% of men and ~60% of women. Stable ischemia with non-obstructive coronary arteries (INOCA) may be due to coronary microvascular dysfunction in up to 40% of these patients. Our understanding of mechanisms of MINOCA and INOCA remain incomplete. Coronary inflammation has been hypothesized as a potential mechanism contributing to coronary spasm in MINOCA and microvascular disease in INOCA.

In this study, quantitative characterization of plaque using coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA) will be used to determine if women who were treated with intensive medical therapy have a greater reduction in the amount and type of cholesterol plaque compared to women receiving usual care and if this results in beneficial changes in clinical symptoms. The study will provide an understanding of how intensive medical therapy works in providing clinical benefit in women with nonobstructive plaque.