Active clinical trials for "Pneumonia"

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of CPAP application by a helmet and O2 administration by a Venturi mask in terms of achievement of criteria for endotracheal intubation during severe acute respiratory failure caused by pneumonia

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of cethromycin to clarithromycin for the treatment of mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the interest of breath holding for the prevention of radiation pneumonitis following conformal radiation therapy. Eligible patients will be randomly assigned in a 2-arm trial to free breathing or breath holding during conformal radiation. The primary objective of the study is to establish the efficacy of breath holding, compared to free breathing, in the prevention of early pulmonary toxicity following conformal radiation. Several departments of radiotherapy, many pneumology units and two basic and applied research laboratories take part in this multicentric study. The number of patients required to demonstrate a reduction in radiation pneumonitis from 45 % to 22.5 %, assuming an alpha risk of 5% in a two-sided test and 95% power, is 240 (120 per arm). With a planned accrual of 7 patients per month, it is estimated that the inclusion period should be approximately 3 years.

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of glucocorticoids as an adjuvant therapy in patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) (Fine V). The hypothesis of the study is that glucocorticoids can modulate the excessive inflammatory response in patients with severe CAP without any significant side effects, showing a benefit in the percentage of non-response to the empiric antimicrobial treatment.

The study is a prospective open trial conducted in 4 centers, and designed to determine if pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) parameters of imipenem, associated with amikacin as empirical therapy, impact microbiological and clinical outcome of patients with Gram negative bacilli (GNB) ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP).

Over a period of years there have been numerous reports from many developing countries including Pakistan showing a rising treatment failure rate with first line drugs (amoxicillin and cotrimoxazole) in non-severe pneumonia in children. The reasons for this rise in treatment failure rates are not entirely clear but one of the reasons is thought to be increasing antimicrobial resistance of H. influenzae and Strep. pneumoniae to first line drugs. There is microbiological data which suggests that this resistance can be overcome by increasing the dose of amoxicillin. The investigators propose to treat non-severe pneumonia with double dose amoxicillin in an attempt to demonstrate a decrease in treatment failure rates. This will be a multicentre, double blind randomized controlled trial in children 2-59 months of age with non-severe pneumonia comparing the clinical outcome between the standard and double dose groups. It has been felt that the WHO criteria for treatment failure in children with pneumonia are too stringent and have never been systematically evaluated in the community. The investigators also propose to modify WHO criteria and field test them in this trial in an attempt to demonstrate that less stringent treatment failure criteria would have an impact on the overall treatment failure rates in pneumonia. Hypothesis: Therapy outcome with double dose of oral amoxicillin is not different than the standard dose of amoxicillin, when used for three days for the treatment of non-severe pneumonia in 2-59 months old children.

All surgical procedures carry with them the risk of infection. Even a minor infection can extend the hospitalization after cardiac surgery. The average minimum increase in length of stay for a single infection is three days. One of the many means used to reduce post-operative infections is the preventative, or "prophylactic", administration of antibiotics just before and just after surgery. Because antibiotics, and for that matter surgery itself, alter the body's natural immune and inflammatory responses and the makeup of the bacteria in the intestine, there is a great deal of scientific interest in using the supplementation of bacteria that naturally reside in the intestine. It is felt that by doing so, the alterations in the immune response may be corrected and the patient better able to fight infections. There are studies using probiotics that have demonstrated a reduction in infection rates in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Subjects will be patients at high risk for infection including those with any one or more of the following characteristics: over 65 years old, poor heart function (ejection fraction <40), diabetes (insulin dependant or non-insulin dependant), peripheral vascular disease, kidney dysfunction (creatinine level >2mg/dl), obesity (body surface area > 2 m2), low serum protein levels (albumin < 2.5 mg/dl), infection of the heart valve (endocarditis), or on any antibiotics other than standard prophylaxis before surgery. The safety of these products has been very well established. Patients who consent to enter the study will receive the synbiotic mix, or a placebo, which comes in a powder that may be mixed with a drink, or washed down into the stomach through the NG tube if the patient is still on a ventilator. Dosing will be initiated within four hours of patient arrival in the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit and will continue on a twice daily basis for the duration of their admission days. Infection and diarrhea data will be monitored.

Primary Objective: The primary objective of the study is to demonstrate the non-inferiority in clinical efficacy at the test of cure (TOC) visit planned 5-7 days after treatment completion of levofloxacin 750 mg once daily (od) in comparison with piperacillin/tazobactam 4 g/500 mg every 8 hours in treating adult patients suffering from mild to moderate hospital-acquired pneumonia. Secondary Objectives: The secondary objectives of the study are: To assess the bacteriological efficacy at the test of cure (TOC) visit To assess the clinical and bacteriological efficacy at the end of study (EOS) visit, 28 to 32 days after treatment ends To assess the tolerability of both drugs

The aim of the study described is to measure the degree with which zinc given as adjunct therapy to standard antibiotic treatment during childhood pneumonia reduces the risk of treatment failure and the duration of the illness.

The intravenous (IV) regimen containing azithromycin (Zithromax) plus ampicillin-sulbactam is consistent with current guidelines for the treatment of CAP. In fact the International guidelines for the treatment of CAP in hospitalised patients suggests the use of a combination between a b-lactam and a macrolide. This trial will allow investigators to evaluate the efficacy of azithromycin plus ampicillin-sulbactam in the treatment of hospitalized subjects with community acquired pneumonia. In addition, this trial will allow investigators to evaluate the safety and toleration of combination therapy.