Active clinical trials for "Hematologic Diseases"

To reduce episodes of first time stroke by 75 percent in children with sickle cell anemia by the administration of prophylactic transfusion therapy.

The overall objective of this study is to assess the clinical value of the SeptiFast Test as an adjunct to traditional microbiological, clinical, and other laboratory assessments in early detection and identification of a potential pathogen and therefore early targeted antimicrobial management of neutropenic hematological patients with suspected infection or sepsis.

To determine the best, clinically useful procedure to prevent or minimize platelet alloimmunization as a cause of refractoriness to platelet transfusion in patients undergoing marrow ablative chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia.

This pilot study evaluates safety of administration of red blood cell transfusions requested by patients based on their symptoms instead of levels of hemoglobin for the treatment of chronic anemia in patients with blood disorders.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of lavender oil as compared to standard of care (SOC) to relieve anxiety in participants undergoing a bone marrow aspirate and biopsy procedure

The purpose of this observational study is to compare the administration of standard of care Multigam IV 5% and standard of care Multigam IV 10% in order to observe changes in infusion time and infusion related reactions. Patient satisfaction, number of actions taken by the nursing staff during infusion and satisfaction of the nursing staff will also be evaluated.

Mnesic function has not, at present, been evaluated in patients with Kabuki Syndrome. Some data from the neuroimagery suggest an impairment of memory function. The objective of our study is to assess the mnesic function of children with Kabuki Syndrom.

In this study, it is hypothesized that helminth infections modulate immune responses against HIV-1 infection resulting into increased HIV-1 multiplication, faster progression to AIDS and increased episodes of AIDS-related opportunistic infections. Furthermore, the effect of helminth infections on progression of HIV-1 infection is dependent on helminth infection intensity, host background immunity, nutritional status, demographic factors and socio-economic status. Also, treatment of helminth infections using praziquantel and albendazole among HIV-1 infected individuals will lead to reduction in HIV-1 viral loads, improvement of CD4+ counts, CD4+/CD8+ ratio and Hb levels, improved weight gain and reduction of episodes of HIV-1 related opportunistic infections. In addition, HIV-1 infection is associated with poor anthelminthic treatment outcome as compared to non-HIV infected individuals

Totally implanted venous access ports allow a safe delivery of medication, mainly chemotherapy, but are also used for blood sampling. This last procedure is not always successful, as it appeared from a nurse's survey in different hospitals in Flanders, including the University Hospitals in Leuven, Belgium. In 3 to 29 percent of the attempts, blood withdrawal is impaired or not possible, as an intermittent or permanent fact. This is in line with international literature data where difficulty in blood draw was noted in 6 to 26% of port accessions. Partial or total occlusion leads to discomfort for the patient, delay in therapy, higher costs and extra nursing time. A new port system with a tangential outlet (Vortex port) was designed and according to the manufacturer, this shape will allow to cleanse the entire reservoir of the port more efficiently and avoid the formation of precipitates of medication or blood that could lead to an obstruction of the device. These precipitates are also regarded as a potential risk factor for infection. However, only one previously published small randomised study addressed the value of the Vortex port when compared to conventional access devices: Stevens et al. were able to show a reduction in obstruction incidence from 26% to 7% with the use of the Vortex port. The incidence of blood withdrawal problems in our experience with conventional ports in University hospitals Leuven was 8% thus lower than that reported by Stevens, but this remains the most frequent problem faced by care providers and patients. With this study, the investigators aim to compare the performance of the tangential outlet ports and that of a "conventional" port in order to assess an eventual functional difference.

To continue studies on the two major neurological complications of sickle cell disease (SCD): namely, stroke and chronic encephalopathy.