Active clinical trials for "Fibrosis"

RATIONALE: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be effective in repairing damaged tissue and reducing lymphedema caused by radiation therapy for cancer. PURPOSE: This randomized phase II trial is studying hyperbaric oxygen to see how well it works compared to standard therapy in treating chronic arm lymphedema in patients who have undergone radiation therapy for cancer.

Acquired dysfunctional immunity in cirrhosis predisposes patients to frequent bacterial infections contributing to disease progression and may lead to the development of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) is one of the most frequent infections in cirrhosis and therefore a trigger for ACLF. ACLF is characterized by systemic inflammation even in the absence of confirmed infection and associated with poor outcome. The source of ascites infection, especially in case of culture-positive SBP and bacterascites, is suspected to be bacterial translocation from gut. In decompensated cirrhosis, data on the gut microbial translocation in different circulatory compartments is limited. Moreover, the link between gut microbiome and systemic inflammation in liver disease has still not established. The transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is applied to treat portal hypertension which frequently leads to intestinal bleeding, life-threatening esophageal bleeding and ascites. Under the procedure of TIPS, the vein blood samples in different compartments (superior mesenteric vein, portal vein and hepatic vein) from patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis are available. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) is a promise approach for the diagnosis of infectious disease because a comprehensive spectrum of potential causes (viral, bacterial, fungal, and parasitic) can be identified by a single assay. Previous study reported that mNGS of cerebrospinal fluid can be applied to diagnosis of meningitis and encephalitis. Comparing to traditional bacterial culture method, mNGS method is more sensitive and rapidly in pathogen detection. Therefore, the circulating microbiome in different compartment can be characterized by means of mNGS. Here, the study aim to investigate the circulating microbiome from superior mesenteric vein (first venous outflow in gut-liver axis), hepatic vein (liver outflow), peripheral vein and ascites from patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis receiving TIPS. Before TIPS, fecal sample and unary sample are collected. And mNGS method is performed to identify the pathogen in ascites,fecal and blood samples in a single center. Ultimately, the study aim to build up the link between gut microbiome translocation and liver disease.

The primary objectives: To evaluate the effect of immunonutrition on the adult patient suffering from cystic fibrosis Safety of immunonutrition The effect of immunonutrition on parameters of oxidative stress The effect of immunonutrition on the inflammatory parameters The effect of immunonutrition on nutrition status Hypothesis The high oxidative stress is present in patients with cystic fibrosis. Immunonutrition has been shown to positively modulate oxidative stress in the different clinical setting however it has not yet been evaluated inpatients with cystic fibrosis who frequently need some support by means of enteral nutrition. We anticipate that the substitution of routine enteral nutrition by immunonutrition will result in improving of oxidative stress parameters. ,

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic progressive lung disease of unknown cause for which there is no effective medical treatment. The main symptoms are increasing breathlessness and cough which can significantly impact on quality of life (QOL) often leading to anxiety and depression. The focus of disease management is shifting from pharmacological attempts to reduce disease progression to managing symptoms and a more holistic approach. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is increasingly used to treat anxiety and depression in chronic disease. Our investigators aim to determine whether CBT can reduce anxiety and depression related to symptoms and improve QOL in patients with IPF. This study will compare CBT intervention (Group 1) against standard treatment (Group 2). Patients will be recruited from a specialist IPF clinic - all patients attending with IPF who suffer from anxiety will be eligible to participate in the study. The study aims to recruit 30 patients (15 in each group). Patients will be randomly allocated into each group using an envelope concealment system. At entry a baseline visit will be conducted with information gathered regarding disease severity, hospital admissions, medication, symptoms (subjective and objective), quality of life and anxiety and depression using questionnaires and routine clinical tests. Patients will then receive CBT intervention (Group 1) or no intervention (Group 2). Patients receiving CBT will undergo a maximum of 6 (minimum of 2) individual therapy sessions. Follow up visits for both groups will be conducted at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months with the same information gathered as at the baseline visit.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a life limiting illness. Median predicted UK survival is 41.4 years (UK CF Registry 2011). The commonest cause of death is respiratory failure. Non invasive ventilation (NIV) is a system which delivers a preset pressure to supplement the size and depth of each breath. It is introduced in CF to manage established respiratory failure. A nose or a mask which covers both the nose and mouth allows flexible ventilation, is used just at night, or for part of the day in addition or for 24 hours as clinical status indicates. It is introduced within a normal ward environment and then continued longterm at home.Once respiratory failure is established longterm noninvasive ventilation is introduced throughout 24 hours and multidisciplinary assessment concludes that the timing is appropriate for the individual. This study aims to evaluate a potential development of current practice: the use of non invasive ventilation during hospital admission only to enhance recovery from an acute exacerbation which has caused respiratory failure in those individuals where long term non invasive ventilation is not yet indicated. A mixed methods design will allow description of the experience of noninvasive ventilation during a semistructured interview to add to understanding of the results from an experiment designed to measure the differences between noninvasive ventilation and standard care. Aim: To compare the clinical efficacy with the patient experience of NIV on recovery from an acute respiratory exacerbation complicated by respiratory failure in adult Cystic Fibrosis.

Heart failure is characterized by cardiac fibrosis linked to extracellular collagen deposits. Collagens are synthesized as soluble precursors, procollagens, which must undergo proteolytic maturation to assemble into fibres. This step is under the control of two extracellular proteins, procollagen C-proteinase enhancer 1 and 2 (PCPE-1 and -2). The mechanism of action of these highly effective and specific activators was recently elucidated by one of our partners. Preliminary results, as well as data from the literature, indicate a strong correlation between the expression rates of PCPEs and cardiac fibrosis. The aim of this study is to validate in humans, by analysis of endomyocardial tissue biopsies, the hypothesis that PCPEs contribute to the anarchic accumulation of collagen during cardiac fibrosis and to evaluate the interest of developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for cardiac fibrosis using PCPE agonists.

This study will evaluate the usefulness of plasma proteasome levels as a tumor marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by studying their variation following curative treatment of HCC. The hypothesis of the study is that plasma proteasome levels will decrease following curative treatment, and that proteasome levels could be used as a marker to detect early recurrence.

Investigators intend to assess the utility of regular albumin infusions to maintain a targeted serum albumin level of 4.0 g/dl in newly detected cirrhotic patients with low albumin levels (<2.8g/dl) with ascites.

Fatigue is a clinical symptom that has been described as the most disturbing by around 50% of patients with PBC. It has an important impact on patients' quality of life and is associated with an increased mortality risk. To treat fatigue in PBC, only medical treatments have been tested with limited efficacy or serious sides' effects. In other diseases, mostly cancer, psychological interventions showed efficacy on fatigue decrease. Most interventions consist in psychoeducation with: education about fatigue, development of self-care or coping techniques, activity management and learning to balance between activities and rest. Hypnosis, which consists in a body work for psycho-therapeutic use (e.g., through imagination), has also shown promising results. Moreover, psychological intervention efficacy seems to be influenced by patients' characteristics, such as personality. Therefore, the first aim of the present single-center randomized controlled phase 2 trial is to assess the efficacy of a psycho educational intervention and a hypnosis intervention on PBC patients' fatigue to demonstrate that both psychoeducational and hypnosis interventions decrease patient fatigue.

Pulmonary rehabilitation programs are part of the multidisciplinary treatment of some chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Although clinical guidelines of other diseases such as non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (nCFBE) discuss the benefits of these programs in quality of life and exercise tolerance, evidence of such intervention in nCFBE patients is insufficient. Longer studies are needed with larger sample sizes and optimized to maximize the response and maintain long-term benefits. The present study aims to examine the effects in exercise tolerance of a pulmonary rehabilitation program combined with respiratory physiotherapy in patients with nCFBE. It is a randomized controlled clinical trial with a total duration of 24 months. The intervention will be performed during 12 weeks and then will be a period of 12 months of maintenance. This is a multicenter study involving the following Hospitals: Hospital Clinic, Hospital la Plató and Hospital del Mar of Barcelona, Hospital Josep Trueta of Girona, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Fondazione Maugeri di Lumezzane of Italy. Subjects will be randomized into three groups in a ratio (1: 1: 1) (1) Pulmonary Rehabilitation (2) Chest Physiotherapy and (3) Pulmonary Rehabilitation + Chest Physiotherapy. Hospital la Plató from Barcelona will be responsible for carrying out the Control Group. The primary endpoint will be the test of "endurance shuttle walk test".