Active clinical trials for "Fibrosis"

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common inherited disease in the western world. On a yearly basis, 56% of CF patients, or nearly 17,000 individuals in the US, suffer from acute pulmonary exacerbations (APE). The purpose of this study is to test a candidate assay for its ability to diagnose APE, the most important disease event in CF. While previous studies have been able to identify biomarkers of CF prognosis and risk stratification, three markers have demonstrated characteristics ideal for APE diagnosis: CD64, TLR2, and GILT. CD64 is a cellular receptor, expressed on numerous cells of the immune system, whose role is to bind antibodies which are attached to infected cells or pathogens. TLR2 plays a major role in early host-microbial interactions. GILT has been shown to be more precise in targeting immune responses against antigens and influences T lymphocyte response. This study looks to identify the differences in the expression of neutrophil CD64 and CD4+ T cell TLR2 and GILT between acute illness and baseline health as a sensitive marker of acute pulmonary exacerbation so that it may facilitate rapid hematologic diagnosis of the condition. The study also looks to compare sensitivity and specificity of the assays above to standard measures, such as health related quality of life scores (CFQ-R), loss of lung function, white blood cell counts and CRP, for diagnosing acute exacerbations.

Retrospective and confounder adjusted comparison of perioperative and longterm outcomes of patients requiring an esophagectomy for esophageal cancer with and without concomitant liver cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis is a condition characterized by diffuse fibrosis, severe disruption of the intrahepatic arterial and venous flow, portal hypertension and, ultimately, liver cell failure. Traditionally, cirrhosis has been dichotomised in compensated and decompensated, and the transition to decompensated cirrhosis happens when any of the following hallmarks occurs: presence of ascites, variceal haemorrhage and/ or hepatic encephalopathy (HE) . In Egypt, HCV is the main cause of liver cirrhosis followed by HBV

The purpose of this study is to assess the potential of elastography for noninvasive assessment of fibrosis in renal allograft.

The purpose of this study is to determine the amount of fibrosis in the liver of hepatitis C patients with advanced fibrosis, using endoscopic ultrasound.

We wish to study patients with liver cirrhosis during and 2 weeks after an acute episode of liver coma (hepatic encephalopathy). By means of Positron Emission Tomography we investigate; brain blood flow, brain ammonia uptake and brain oxygen consumption. We hypothesize that blood flow an oxygen consumption is diminished and ammonia uptake increased during an acute episode of hepatic encephalopathy.

Hypothesis 1: Microaspiration, as diagnosed by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) pepsin, is common in patients with IPF. Hypothesis 2a: Baseline clinical variables and co-morbid conditions are risk factors for microaspiration in patients with IPF. Hypothesis 2b: Baseline biological variables reflecting alveolar epithelial injury and inflammation are markers of microaspiration in IPF. Hypothesis 3a: Microaspiration will lead to a more rapid rate of decline in pulmonary function. Hypothesis 3b: Microaspiration will lead to higher rates of urgent medical care use (i.e. unscheduled clinic visit, emergency room visit, or hospitalization).

To establish a registry of patients for future studies of Inflammation in Interstitial Lung Disease/Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Staphylococcus aureus is not only one of the first pathogens infecting the airways of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, but also a highly prevalent microorganism (>60% of all CF patients; European and American CF registries; (4,25), which often persists for several years in the respiratory tract of CF patients. The purpose of this study is to dissect infection by S. aureus from colonization. Therefore, the following non-interventional prospective, longitudinal multicenter study will be conducted to develop the following hypothesis: CF patients with high bacterial loads are more likely to be infected by S. aureus than patients with low bacterial loads. Primary endpoint: bacterial load of sputum cultures Secondary endpoints: nasal carriage molecular analysis of S. aureus (Monoclonal/polyclonal) serum: S. aureus-specific antibodies, S100A12, IL-8, TNF-alpha sputum: S100A12, IL-8, myeloperoxidase S. aureus therapy regimens lung function tests: FEV1, deltaFVC , deltaMEF25 BMI development Inclusion criteria: S. aureus cultures for more than 6 months within the last year, children (>6 years) and patients, who are able to perform lung function tests Exclusion criteria: P. aeruginosa and/or B. cepacia cultures from the specimens for more than 6 months within the last year before recruitment or during the study period In addition to microbiological investigations and clinical laboratory tests, the actual clinical situation will be evaluated and reported during the study period. The results of this observational study will be used to carefully plan a clinical interventional study. Furthermore, with the results it might be possible to characterize a subpopulation of patients, which is at greater risk for S. aureus infections.

This is a research study where researchers are collecting blood to evaluate the genetic characteristics of individuals with chronic lung diseases, including asthma, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and lung cancer. The investigators hope to be able to identify an association between a genetic make-up in the blood samples and the risks of developing a particular lung disease, or severity of a lung disease. The findings of this study might be important to develop future preventative methods and potential treatments for the management of lung disease.