Active clinical trials for "Heart Diseases"

This study is a multi-center, prospective, non-randomized, observational study. The objectives of this study are to confirm the clinical safety and efficacy of the SJM Epic valve.

The purpose of this study is to determine the best red blood cell(hemoglobin) level for infants and children following surgical repair of particular heart defects. These children often receive red blood cell transfusions after surgery, but what the best hemoglobin level is for them remains unknown.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of 3 different rapamycin-eluting-stent platforms to reduce coronary artery reblockage after stent implantation

Patients with coronary artery disease have an abnormal cardiac metabolism. The hypothesis of this study is that shifting cardiac metabolism from free fatty acids to glucose will improve myocardial ischemia

The purpose of the study is to compare two device settings (sets of instructions) used by the ICD. The Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator ("ICD") can be set to use one wire (top or bottom of the heart) or two wires (top and bottom). The study will compare how much time either ICD wire is used by the ICD and the status of congestive heart failure.

Prospective, randomized, double blind trial. The rationale of the study is the concept that fresh frozen plasma (FFP) is still largely used in cardiac surgery, despite the fact that prothrombin complexes and fibrinogen are available.The experimental hypothesis is that cardiac surgery patients may be operated with no use of FFP and with a coagulation factors replacement based on fibrinogen and prothrombin complexes (when needed). Primary endpoint: Transfusion avoidance Secondary endpoints: Transfusion limitation, massive blood transfusion, bleeding. Study population: high-risk adult cardiac surgery patients Sample size : 2 groups of 60 patients each

Anesthesia practice in the 21st century is increasingly outcomes-oriented and evidence-based, but there remain significant gaps in our knowledge, even for commonly-encountered clinical situations. Currently, the two most commonly used drugs used for maintenance of anesthesia in cardiac surgical patients are isoflurane and sevoflurane. There is a belief among many cardiac anesthesiologists that sevoflurane is a better cardiac anesthetic than isoflurane, but there is very little data to support this notion. In fact, very little is known about their comparative effects on important patient outcomes because there has not been a large head-to-head prospective randomized clinical trial. This project will supply the data necessary to critically compare the two anesthetics.

The avoidance of blood transfusions benefits the patient. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is routinely used in complex cardiac surgeries. This device requires circulating blood through an oxygenator and pump while the heart is stopped. Upon discontinuation of CPB, the volume of blood in the CPB circuit, approximately 1 to 1.5 liters, is currently processed for the red cell components of the blood. Yet, all the other blood components are available in this volume of blood, but are discarded. The Hemobag filters allow for whole blood reinfusion rather than just red cell reinfusion. Thus, the patient's own platelets, for example, are returned to the patient. The product is just being used clinically and we, the investigators at University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, have been asked to perform a study on our normal practice (red blood cell return as described above) compared to the whole blood return available with the Hemobag™.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and markers of inflammation, two predictors of heart disease.

This study will determine the pharmacokinetics and safety of intravenous citrulline given to children undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass for the correction of congenital heart defects.