Active clinical trials for "Cholangitis"

Randomized double blind placebo controlled trial to evaluate the antipruritic effect of bezafibrate in patients with moderate to severe cholestatic itch.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness and safety of mitomycin C in the treatment of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

PSC is a progressive liver disease without effective medical treatment. There is often co-existent ulcerative colitis. Probiotics (bacterial food supplements) have been shown to benefit patients with ulcerative colitis. In the current protocol potential beneficial effects of probiotics on liver biochemistry and liver related symptoms as pruritus are being assessed in 12 PSC patients in a randomized controlled cross over study (3 months probiotics, 1 one wash-out and 3 months placebo).

Biochemical response of primary biliary cholangitis-autoimmune hepatitis overlap syndrome induced by mycophenolate mofetil versus cyclosporin A

This research study is exploring the effects of dietary intervention in PSC. Study participants will be randomly assigned to either the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) or a vegan/low-sulfur diet for 8 weeks; the entire study will last approximately 14 weeks. Participants will work with BWH Registered Dieticians and receive dietary educational materials, recipes, and a food procurement stipend to support the new diet. Subjects will attend 7 video visits and have regular lab tests performed, requiring blood and stool samples.

Biochemical response of primary biliary cholangitis-autoimmune hepatitis overlap syndrome induced by ursodeoxycholic acid only or combination therapy of immunosuppressive agents

This study evaluates corticosteroids in the treatment of obstructive jaundice in autoimmune pancreatitis and/or immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related sclerosing cholangitis in adults. Half of participants will receive corticosteroids alone, while the other half will receive corticosteroids with biliary stent at the beginning.

Acute cholangitis with obstructive jaundice is a condition which needs biliary drainage and appropriate antibiotics. Bile culture is an optional laboratory test according to 2013 Tokyo guideline, but the clinical significance is yet unproven. And its results might indicate less information of the true pathogen regarding normal flora. Previous study conducted at our institute found drug-resistant pathogens identified in bile culture had no impact on the outcome. So the investigators are conducting a multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing groups which considers both blood and bile culture as control and which considers only blood culture as trial group in order to prove bile culture provides no additional helpful clinical information.

Single-arm pilot clinical trial. Patients with non operable CC associated with PSC will be subjected to liver transplantation after a neoadjuvant multimodal therapy protocol. Cholangiocarcinoma (CC) accounts for 3% of all gastrointestinal cancers; it is more frequent in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), who carry an 8%-12% risk of developing this type of neoplasm. Only a minority of patients are suitable for resection partly because of the anatomic position of the tumor (which often arises from the bile duct bifurcation) and partly because of the frequently coexisting liver disease. In fact, CC is currently considered a major contraindication to liver transplantation (OLT) at the majority of centers, given a 5-year survival rate of 0%-35%. New strategies have been developed for the treatment of this kind of cancer arising in PSC. The Nebraska University group showed a 1 and 3 years survival of 55 and 45 % combining a neoadjuvant intra bile duct barchytherapy and 5-FU based chemotherapy with liver transplantation. University of Pittsburg proposed also a neoadjuvant protocol prior to liver transplantation based on systemic chemotherapy and external radiotherapy reporting a 53% 5 years survival. More convincing results come from the Mayo Clinic. An accurate selection of patients and a proper neoadjuvant multimodal therapy (chemotherapy, external radiotherapy and intraluminal bile duct brachytherapy) lead to a 80% 5 years survival after liver transplantation.

The reason for this study is to see if a new radiologic technique called computerized tomographic cholangiography (CT cholangiography) could be helpful to demonstrate the bile ducts features and measure the amount of space of bile duct canals that should be filled with bile fluid. It may be useful to find out how well these findings correlate with the previously known clinical predictors in term of the clinical outcomes that will happen in the future for patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).