Active clinical trials for "Fibrosis"

The aim of this study is to test whether the oscillation of cytokine concentrations in serum is able to predict the development of infection in patients with liver cirrhosis.

The investigated cohort will examine liver and spleen fibrosis in patients with Gaucher Disease(GD) by using Shear Wave Elastography- SWE to evaluation fibrosis of the tissue and to check the correlation of fibrosis with the biomarkers of disease severity.

The purpose of this research is to determine if an investigational device called the 13C-Spirulina Gastric Emptying Breath Test (GEBT), can accurately diagnose gastroparesis (delayed emptying of the stomach) in patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF).

This study is being performed as part of the development process of the Liver EpiCheck test which includes the identification of different methylation profiles in HCC (hepatocellular carcinoma) patients compare to cancer free control in blood samples

The present application proposes to study the role the composition of the pediatric CF airway microbiota plays in frequent pulmonary exacerbations in pediatric CF patients. In order to accomplish this goal the dynamics of the composition of the CF airway microbiota in two distinct subsets of pediatric patients with CF will be characterized, those with frequent pulmonary exacerbations and clinically stable children. Clinical measures of pulmonary function, patient reported symptoms, sleep quality, and antibiotic usage will be recorded, and these findings will be correlated with the lung microbiota data. This strategy promises to identify the key characteristics of the pediatric CF microbiota, which can in turn be used as noninvasive markers to identify those patients at a higher risk for experiencing repeated pulmonary exacerbations.

The objective of the study is to implement a new method of performing chest CT imaging in young children with cystic fibrosis at Packard Children's Hospital. This technique will be used to evaluate early lung disease comparing quantitative chest CT air trapping and airway measurements with lung function measurements in infants, toddlers, and young children with chronic lung disease.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth commonest cancer in the world with poor prognosis, as the annual mortality is almost equivalent to the incidence. This is mainly due to late diagnosis and co-morbid liver dysfunction. HCC is prevalent in our region than in the West due to prevalent Hepatitis B infection and carriers. At the time of diagnosis, only 10 - 20% of HCC patients are candidates for liver resection or transplantation. Almost 40-50% of patients have such poor liver function and co-morbid conditions that only supportive cares are offered. Thus the median survival time is 18-24 months for resectable disease, 6 months for unresectabe disease and 3 months for metastatic disease. Current screening methods for HCC in high risk patients depend on alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasound of the liver. Neither test is sensitive or specific enough for early detection. Therefore, early diagnosis with novel protein biomarkers is needed urgently and may provides hope to improve treatment outcome. Our preliminary study in 49 HCC patients have identified several proteins such as truncated complement C3a, albumin, B2 microglobulin, may be potentially helpful in early diagnosis. We have started a large prospective and longitudinal study in July 2006, with nearly 100 patients accrued. This application is to extend and expand our current study. We aim to (i) identify and validate novel protein biomarkers for early diagnosis of HCC (ii) conduct longitudinal proteomics with most up-to-date methods to discover new biomarker for early detection and prognostication of HCC (iii) set up gene and plasma depository and clinical database for HCC in collaboration with Singapore Tissue Network.

Clinical trial with medical devices. A diagnostic trial conducted to find a better (less invasive) procedure for predicting the onset of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis(SBP), which is a complication of liver cirrhosis with ascites.The current recommendation for primary prophylaxis of SBP include a low protein content of the ascitic fluid or a gastrointestinal bleeding. This trial will use the CLE (confocal laser endomicroscopy) technic in order to quantify the intestinal permeability in patients with liver cirrhosis and correlate this to the onset of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.We aim to evaluate a new diagnostic tool (the confocal laser endoscopy(CLE) technique -cellvizio- in the setting of endoscopy and defining parameters that are altered in cirrhotic patients of different severity and being at risk of developing a SBP (spontaneous bacterial peritonitis).The parameters assessed by confocal laser endomicroscopy will be correlated with the protein content in ascitic fluid and the patient will be monitored for time to occurrence of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Defining a correlation between the quantified loss of intestinal integrity and i) total protein concentration in the ascitic fluid and ii) stadium of liver disease (Child class A, B or C)

This is a long-term study in cystic fibrosis patients who are participating in the Cystic Fibrosis Patient Registry to assess the occurrence and risk factors for a rare bowel disorder called fibrosing colonopathy (narrowing of the large intestine). Patients will be followed at their regular clinical care visits over a 10-year period and approached if they develop symptoms of fibrosing colonopathy for collection and use of further detailed information.

The purpose of this study is to characterize bacterial diversity and richness in the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients treated with every-other-month TOBI™ Podhaler™ and continuous alternating therapy with TOBI™ Podhaler and colistimethate (Colistin).