Active clinical trials for "Hemochromatosis"

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disorder of iron metabolism, resulting in excessive iron overload. Phlebotomy is currently the standard therapy. More recently Therapeutic Erythrocytapheresis (TE) has become a new therapeutic modality, which potentially offers a more efficient method to remove iron overload with fewer procedures.In the proposed clinical trial the investigators will examine whether TE can keep the ferritin levels in patients requiring maintenance therapy below 50 microg/L, with minimally half the number of treatment procedures when compared to current standard therapy by P.

Pulmonary hemosiderosis (PH) is a pulmonary hemosiderin deposition which caused by alveolar capillary hemorrhage. PH is easy to recurrent and can lead to pulmonary fibrosis and insufficiency if the disease was poor controlled. Steroid is the most common drug that was administered in acute phase of the disease. However, considered the side-effects, steroid is not suitable for long-time maintenance. Therefore, it is necessary to explore a new therapy. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) are a kind of adult stem cells with high self-renewal and multi-directional differentiation potential in bone marrow. It has become a hot topic in immunosuppressive and tissue repair therapy in recent years. To date, homing, colonization and differentiation of BMSCs in the lung have been observed in animal models of pulmonary hypertension, radiation pneumonitis and pulmonary fibrosis. It had been reported that BMSC transplantation in acute lung injury in mice, inflammation of lung injury can significantly improve. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of BMSC on PH and its mechanism, and to explore a new way to promote the repair of IPH. It is expected to improve the status of IPH therapy in children, especially improve the prognosis of refractory PH.

Interventional Allocation: Randomized Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study of combined chelation therapy Masking: Open Label Primary Purpose: Treatment of transfusional iron overload Primary Outcome Measures: • The primary outcome measure is to assess efficacy in lowering serum ferritin level(the change in serum ferritin compared to baseline) with combining DFP and deferasirox compared to combined DFP and DFO in conditions with severe chronic iron overload; showing an up-trend of SF over previous 12 months on single chelator. Secondary Outcome Measures: • The secondary outcome measure is to determine the number of patients who will develop adverse events in order to assess safety upon administering the drugs in combination (DFP and DFX) compared to the combination of DFO and DFP.

Primary hemochromatosis is the most frequent hereditary condition in Scandinavia. The condition may result in serious organ damage which can be prevented by therapy, but only few patients develop such organ damage. The optimal treatment, therefore, is still a matter of discussion Prevention of organ damage has traditionally been accomplished by drawing of full blood (phlebotomy), which has to be frequently repeated during the initial phase and then continued indefinitely as a maintenance treatment. The removed amount of iron may be increased two- or threefold for each procedure by using modern equipment for selective removal of red blood cells (red cell apheresis). Possible drawbacks of this technique may be higher costs, prolonged time for each therapeutic procedure, and certain requirements to the patients. The possible advantages are the reduced number of therapeutic procedures and less strain for the patient. No larger, randomized study has been published in order to determine which method should be preferred. This study is a controlled trial in which participating patients are asked to be randomized to red cell apheresis or traditional phlebotomy. Each group will be followed by means of well-defined assessments in order to explore possible advantages and disadvantages of each method in order to establish what type of treatment should be recommended.

Hereditary haemochromatosis (HHC) is a frequent disease in Brittany (5 to 7‰), responsible first for biological disorder in blood iron parameters and minor clinical disorders, before evolving to potential life-threatening consequences such as diabetes, liver cirrhosis and congestive heart failure. The improvement of screening and treatments made those severe affections rare enough not to evaluate myocardial iron overload a systematic part of the starting check-up. Nonetheless this myocardial iron overload might have severe implications on cardiac function on a long term basis. A single trial was conducted on limited number of patients with 1.5 Tesla MRI, which showed a myocardial iron overload (defined by a myocardium T2* value <20ms) in 19% of the subjects. The main objective of this study is to precisely estimate cardiac iron overload in treatment naive patients with newly diagnosed HFE hereditary haemochromatosis with a 3 Tesla MRI, more sensitive than the 1.5 Tesla one, in order to later appreciate its correlation with cardiac morbidity in HHC.

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects tissues surrounding the teeth. It is strongly associated with the major pathogenic "red complex", including Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia and Treponema denticola1 and thus is considered an infection. Recent advances in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease have suggested that polymicrobial synergy and microbiota dysbiosis together with a dysregulated immune response can induce inflammation-mediated damage in periodontal tissues2-4. Interestingly, currently periodontitis is associated with a growing number of systemic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, adverse pregnancy outcomes, diabetes5-7 and hereditary haemochromatosis8.

To examine the cost effectiveness of hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) screening in primary care.

Observational study.

This study will examine the effect of iron buildup in the hearts of patients with hereditary hemochromatosis (HH), a genetic disease that causes the body to accumulate excess amounts of iron. The excess iron can damage the heart, liver, pancreas, skin, and joints. Generally, early treatment with phlebotomy (periodic removal of a unit of blood), and in some cases chelation (using a drug to remove iron from the body) slows down organ damage in HH patients. This study will try to elucidate the effect of iron buildup in the heart and determine if phlebotomy and chelation help keep the heart healthy. Patients with HH and healthy volunteers 21 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. (Normal volunteers will provide normal values of heart function that will be used to verify abnormalities detected in HH patients.) Patients must have a gene abnormality of Hfe gene Cys282Try homozygote. They may or may not be receiving treatment for HH and they must have no heart symptoms or serious organ damage due to HH. Candidates will be screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood tests, electrocardiogram (EKG), Holter EKG (24-hour EKG monitoring, see description below), and chest x-ray. Participants will undergo the following tests and procedures over 2 to 5 days: Exercise test: The participant exercises on a treadmill while wearing a mouthpiece, which is used to measure how much oxygen is used. Electrodes placed on the chest and arms monitor the heartbeat during the test. Echocardiography: This ultrasound test uses sound waves to take pictures. A small probe is held against the chest to allow a technician to take pictures of the heart and assess its function. A drug called Optison may be injected in an arm vein if needed to enhance the ultrasound images. Exercise stress echocardiography: The participant exercises on a stationary bike while heart function is measured with an echocardiogram, EKG, and blood pressure cuff. 24-hour Holter EKG: The participant wears a small machine that records heart rhythm continuously for 24 hours. The recorder is connected by cables to electrodes placed on the chest. Magnetic resonance imaging: This test uses a magnetic field and radio waves to obtain detailed images of the heart and blood vessels. The participant lies flat on a table that slides inside the scanner, which is a large hollow tube. All tests are performed once in normal volunteers and in patients who have received standard treatment for HH. Untreated patients repeat the tests 6 months after beginning phlebotomy or chelation. Additional time points for these tests might be added if further evaluation is needed. ...

To determine the prevalence, genetic and environmental determinants, and potential clinical, personal, and societal impact of iron overload and hereditary hemochromatosis, in a multi-center, multiethnic, primary care-based sample of 100,000 adults. The study is conducted by the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications of the NHLBI, the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources of the NHLBI, and the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) Research Program of the NHGRI.