Active clinical trials for "Heart Diseases"

The goal of this study is the evaluation of an atomic magnetometer that is practical for human biomagnetism studies. The investigators have built a device that has the necessary sensitivity, and will be testing it on a small number of adults and approximately 30 healthy pregnant subjects, in preparation for beginning pre-clinical studies of high-risk pregnancies.

This is a study of the perfusion of the myocardium in adults with specific forms of repaired congenital heart disease using established cardiac MRI techniques and correlating perfusion with clinical outcomes.

This study addresses the influence of anesthesia induction, ventilation and influence of cardiac surgical procedures and cardio-pulmonary-bypass on right ventricular function. Influence on patient outcome is also studied. Three dimensional echocardiography is applied.

This study will test the capability of a non-invasive instrument (the PhysioFlow impedance cardiography instrument) to measure cardiac output in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). This instrument works by placing electrodes on the skin of a patient and measuring electrical impedance through the chest, which is proportional to blood volume and blood flow at any given time. The instrument has been validated in patients with structurally normal hearts, but in the only two studies using it for patients with CHD, it was deemed too inaccurate for clinical use. The manufacturer of the device would require access to data on the patients in order to improve its accuracy, and that has not been feasible thus far. This study would begin by comparing cardiac output based on the PhysioFlow monitor to standard techniques, then after possible changes to the instrument to enhance accuracy, would test the instrument again in the same way.

Cardiac output (CO) is an important parameter in the diagnosis and therapy of cardiac diseases. The aim of the study at hand was to evaluate NICOM (bioreactance) as a new method for determinion of CO and to compare it to Innocor (inert gas rebreathing), which previously showed promising results.

The purpose of this study is to advance research through collaboration, 4C was established in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2009 as a resource in which deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and biomarker samples were obtained at time of presentation with chest pain linked to detailed phenotypic data obtained from electronic health records and participant self-completed questionnaires. The investigators sought to explore and assess the current potential of setting up a comparable consented research platform by collecting DNA samples and to quantify the extent to which diverse NHS hospital information systems are accessible for extracting secondary care data (structured and unstructured) for research purposes at scale.

Peripheral pulse oximetry allows continuous non-invasive measurement of arterial oxygen saturation, but the gold standard for arterial oxygen saturation is co-oximeter which requires an arterial blood sample. The purpose of this research study is to determine the accuracy of a pulse oximeter with a standard sensor (Masimo LNCS sensor) versus with the study sensors, namely Masimo blue sensor and Nellcor Max-I sensors and compared against co-oximetry. Currently available peripheral oximeters (standard) are inaccurate at low oxygen saturation noted in children with cyanotic heart disease. Hence therapeutic interventions (including surgery and cardiac catheterizations) based solely on peripheral oximetry can be delayed and or inadequate. By doing this study the investigators will be able to establish correct limits of peripheral pulse oximeter when using the standard and the study sensors.

This study aims to explore the impacts of CHD and its limitations on adolescents and the living experience of adolescents living with CHD. Hong Kong Chinese adolescents with CHD are having reduced psychological well-being and quality of life than their healthy counterparts. Qualitative study is therefore needed to explore how CHD may impact on the adolescents' psychological well-being and quality of life.

The mortality due to congenital heart diseases has decreased in recent decades, even for infants with the most complex lesions.Therapeutic advances have prolonged the lifespan of people with these diseases. However, there are specific social and psychological troubles that appear later in life and can compromise employability, insurability and social integration. There are different types of congenital heart disease: those not operated in adulthood, and those operated for curative or palliative purposes. It is estimated that about 10 out of 1000 babies are born with a congenital cardiac malformation. One-third of these have a critical diagnosis requiring a surgical intervention. Data from the literature show that there is an unusually high prevalence of psychosocial, neurological, developmental and psychiatric disabilities among survivors, as they enter formal education.There are many factors that influence developmental outcomes at school age. Early intervention is an essential element in controlling these comorbidities. The continuous monitoring of the development by a multidisciplinary team would make it possible to identify a developmental disorder as soon as it appears and respond to it as quickly as possible.For many children and their families, the burden of the developmental consequences is higher than the daily impact of the heart disease. Most studies and measures of quality of life in congenital heart patients require methodological improvements.They contribute little to the scientific basis of the quality of life in these patients. Future quality of life studies must invest in rigorous conceptualization, adequate operational definition and a good measure of quality of life. The investigators propose to develop a reproducible and reliable quality of life measurement tool, suitable for adult patients suffering from congenital heart disease and having had surgery during childhood.

Analysis of certain biomarkers and transient myocardial perfusion deficit revealed by myocardial perfusion scintigraphy.