Active clinical trials for "Cystic Fibrosis"

Lung structural abnormalities are complex, time-consuming, and may lack reproducibility to evaluate visually on CT scans. The study's aim is to perform automated recognition of structural abnormalities in CT scans of patients with chronic lung diseases by using dedicated software.

The impact of high-frequency chest wall oscillation therapy on spirometry values (Forced Expiratory Volume, Forced Vital Capacity, Peak Expiratory Flow, Forced Expiratory Flow and Tidal Volume is investigated during use of several products and comparing to baseline values.

This study evaluates the ability of the drug sildenafil to improved exercise capacity, cardiac performance during exercise, and quality of life in patients with moderate to severe CF lung disease. 3/4 of the subjects will receive sildenafil and 1/4 will receive placebo.

To study the contribution of osteopathy on the reduction of pain in adult patients with cystic fibrosis

Previously, the investigators and others have shown that mucociliary clearance (MCC) is defective in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and it is now thought that alterations in airway mucus rheology figure prominently in the impairment. Mucociliary clearance works by trapping toxic particles, bacteria and viruses in the lung mucus and then quickly removing the mucus out of the lungs. Defects in MCC typically lead to the accumulation of mucus in the airways, and this in turn is associated with acute infections, chronic bacterial colonization and chronic inflammation. One treatment strategy that is gaining acceptance as an important therapy for improving MCC in adults with CF is the inhalation of the osmotic stimulus, hypertonic saline (HS). A number of studies have shown that acute inhalation of HS (7% saline) significantly improves MCC in adults with CF and results from a recent study indicate that two weeks of inhaling HS leads to a significant increase in MCC that is sustained for 8 hours post inhalation and is associated with significant improvements in FEV1, FVC and FEF25-75 values. Since MCC in patients with CF appears to be impaired by adulthood, any drug that disrupts or slows the impairment in childhood could prove enormously beneficial in the long-term prognosis of the disease. Nevertheless, no studies have been conducted to determine if HS treatment improves MCC in children with CF. This is most problematic for physicians who care for children with CF who have normal FEV1 and FVC values, since it is unclear if they should treat these children with HS or not. This research study is designed to begin to answer this question. The investigators hypothesize that acute inhalation of hypertonic saline (7%) will improve MCC in CF children with normal pulmonary function. Our hypothesis will be tested in a one-year clinical trial that will be randomized and placebo-controlled. Twelve children with CF who are 7-12 years old and have normal FEV1 and FVC values will participate. Our goal will be to compare MCC in these children on two study visits after acute inhalations of placebo (0.12% saline) or hypertonic saline (HS) (7% saline) aerosol. The investigators predict that MCC values after acute inhalation of 7% HS aerosol will be statistically significantly greater than after placebo inhalation.

The study will include 10 adult patients with cystic fibrosis. The aim of the study is to evaluate whether Tobramycin 300 mg aerosol once-a-day for 28 days can reduce the bacterial load in the airways. Secondary end-point is the evaluation of variation in bacterial susceptibility during and at the end of study period.

The primary objective of this study is to determine if quantitative Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE MR) perfusion imaging accurately quantifies right and left pulmonary artery blood flow as compared with phase contrast flow velocity mapping (PC), the current gold standard of flow volume measurements.

A phase IV clinical trial, multicentric (3 Hospitals in Madrid) controlled, prospective, open and randomized of long-term treatment with hypertonic saline in cystic fibrosis patients. The purpose of this study is to verify if the long term inhalation (48 weeks) of major volume (10 ml) increases the free time without pulmonary exacerbation, and if this increase is superior to the obtained with the inhalation of the standard volume (5 ml) that has been advocated.

High frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) has been shown to increase tracheal mucous clearance compared with control. These observations led to the development of 'The Vest' which is a non-stretchable jacket connected to an air-pulse generator and worn by the patient over the chest wall. The generator rapidly inflates and deflates 'The Vest' which gently compresses and releases the chest wall between 5 and 20 times per second. This generates mini-coughs which are said to dislodge mucus from the bronchial walls and to facilitate its movement up the airways. In addition 'The Vest' has been shown to reduce the viscosity of mucus and this should further enhance mucous clearance. The technique has, for many years, been widely used in the United States of America as an alternative to the European airway clearance regimens of the active cycle of breathing techniques, autogenic drainage, positive expiratory pressure and oscillating positive expiratory pressure, but 'The Vest' has only recently been registered for use in Europe. It is important that the airway clearance regimen of 'The Vest' be compared with the alternative airway clearance regimens widely used in Europe. Hypothesis: In people with cystic fibrosis 'The Vest' will lead to the expectoration of an increased weight of sputum during treatment sessions compared with alternative airway clearance regimens.

Oral supplementation of patients affected by cystic fibrosis with docosahexanoic acid (DHA) will result in normalization of the known fatty acid derangements in these patients and will diminish the production of proinflammatory isoprostanes such as 8-isoprostane-PGF2α.