Active clinical trials for "Kidney Failure, Chronic"

Patients with kidney failure have a poor survival rate that is due to a much higher than average rate of heart and vascular disease. The reason that kidney failure causes heart disease is unknown but recent research suggests that a hormone called aldosterone, which is increased in patients with kidney disease may damage the heart and blood vessels. The investigators propose, using a randomized blinded trial, to find out whether drugs that inhibit the actions of aldosterone have beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system in patients with kidney failure

Volume overload contributes significantly to the pathogenesis of hypertension in hemodialysis patients. The Hemocontrol(HC)system (Gambro), which automatically adjusts ultrafiltration rate and dialysate conductivity according to blood volume variations during dialysis, has been suggested to improve hemodynamic tolerance and thus facilitate fluid removal. This randomized controlled trial was designed to compare the use of HC with standard hemodialysis to test the hypothesis that the use of the HC system may lower home blood pressure in comparison with standard hemodialysis as a primary endpoint. Secondary endpoints are a variation in the percentage of dialysis sessions requiring nurses' interventions for intra-dialytic hypotension and a change in the health-related quality of life of HD patients.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness, safety and clinical outcome of Epoetin alfa with dosing regime in accordance with Summary of Product Characteristics in the treatment of anemia in predialysis.

The Frequent Hemodialysis Network (FHN) Daily Trial is a randomized controlled trial recruiting subjects from dialysis units associated with designated Clinical Centers in the U.S. and Canada and followed for 1 year. Subjects will be randomized to either conventional hemodialysis Daily HD delivered for at least 2.5 hours (typically 3 to 4 hours), 3 days per week, or to more frequent hemodialysis delivered for 1.5 - 2.75 hours, 6 days per week. The study has two co-primary outcomes: 1) a composite of mortality with the change over 12 months in left ventricular mass by magnetic resonance imaging, and 2) a composite of mortality with the change over 12 months in the SF-36 RAND physical health composite (PHC) quality of life scale.

The purpose of this study in early hemodialysis patients (on dialysis 3 to 18 months) is to assess the effect of correction versus partial correction of anemia using epoetin alfa on heart pumping function.

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of different amounts of phosphorus in the diet on hormones that control phosphorus and bone health both in men who are healthy and in ones who have moderate kidney disease.

African Americans receiving a kidney transplant are considered at high risk for early rejection of their transplanted kidney and require more immunosuppression to maintain their kidney transplant function. This increase in immunosuppression puts this group at risk for drug-related toxicities and complications such as post-transplant diabetes. This study will evaluate: Whether a sirolimus based steroid avoidance regimen in African Americans may decrease the risks of drug-related toxicities, Decreased rates of metabolic complications such as post-transplant diabetes, The effect of Sirolimus plus a reduced dose cyclosporine on renal allograft function.

The purpose of this study is to learn if Belatacept can provide protection from organ rejection following kidney transplantation while avoiding some of the toxic effects of standard immunosuppressive medications such as kidney damage. Effects on kidney function and patient survival as well as drug safety will also be studied.

The goal of this study is to evaluate the metabolic effects of concomitant use of three consecutive doses of recombinant human growth hormone over three days and exercise during continuous nutrient infusion in chronic hemodialysis patients. We would also like to evaluate the metabolic effects of nutritional supplementation alone without the additional anabolic strategies.

Dialysis patients suffer from many problems with blood vessels and this is even more so for patients with the added complication of diabetes. Diabetics have a number of reasons for vascular disease and one of the new areas of research is looking at the cells that line the blood vessels, called endothelial cells. It is thought that the number of red blood cells in the blood (haemoglobin concentration) affects the function of these cells. There is very little information available on what haemoglobin level is best for dialysis patients. As diabetics account for almost 40% of dialysis patients worldwide it is important to understand the effect different haemoglobin levels will have on the blood vessels. Hypothesis: Endothelial cell function and the related expansile capacity of blood vessels are affected by different haemoglobin concentrations [Hb] in dialysis patients.