Active clinical trials for "Ischemia"

Post-reperfusion syndrome and ischemia-reperfusion insult are a common well-known complication in liver transplantation. Several trials investigated variables that my contribute to the generation of these two complications for reducing their incidence and magnitude. The investigators will investigate the effect of acute conditioning of the recipients circulation to the vasoactive mediators in the graft as well as the congested intestine through intermittent purging of graft contents into the patient's systemic circulation in living donor liver transplantation.

Various preclinical animal studies have shown the potential of stem cells in re-vascularising ischemic limbs and promoting collateral vessel formation. SVF have the potential to facilitate the formation of new blood vessels and skeletal muscle. Early pilot clinical studies indicate that stem-cell transplantation is feasible and may have beneficial effects in CLI. Injury or inflammation is a prerequisite for the participation of circulating stem cells to home and differentiate on to this microenvironment. The increased vascular permeability and expression of adhesion proteins like integrin assist in stem cell homing. The migratory capacity of stem cells is dependent on natural growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Stromal cell derived factor (SDFI) and stem cell factor (SCF). The expression of VEGF, SDFI and SCF is highly unregulated in the hypoxic muscular tissue and is responsible for the recruitment of the stem cells to assist in the repair mechanism and consequent improvement in limb function. In addition to the above regenerating potential of SVF, they have several advantages; they can be easily isolated without further culturing it. Most importantly SVF have shown to have significantly highest expression of pluripotent markers similar to that of human embryonic stem cells and yet they are non-tumorogenic and safe. MSCs are having angiogenic activity and hence may be excellent source to develop neo-vasculature and hence could be explored for their therapeutic potential for treating Critical Limb Ischemia. MSC's also display membrane-bound and insoluble secreted molecules involved with cell attachment to neighbouring cells and to the extra cellular matrix19 Adipose derived Stromal vascular fraction and Mesenchymal Stem Cells has been found in preclinical studies to be safe and effective. The current Phase I/II study of adipose derived stromal vascular fraction and Mesenchymal stem cells is conducted with the broad objective of establishing safety and efficacy.

Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is a disease caused by neurogenic (concerning the nervous system), vascular, mechanic and metabolic factors, which are further complicated by an impairment of the immune system and a corresponding increase in the risk for infections. Results from clinical trials about the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing the number of patient-relevant end points are of limited comparability due to the heterogenity of patient characteristics. By their very nature, randomized clinical trials (RCT) can only focus on a limited section of the wide range of possible intervention regimes. In clinical practice, however, a number of patients with dfs will never have been part of a clinical trial. Furthermore, there are only very few contemporary registers for this indication from which conclusions with regard to the comparative merits of different therapeutic strategies may be drawn. The register was conceived to find out to which extent RCT patients are representative for the overall patient collective with dfs and critical limb ischemia and to evaluate the therapeutic success of other treatment strategies. An RCT to assess the efficacy of urokinase versus placebo is imbedded in the register.

Purpose Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) with transient upper limb ischemia reduces myocardial injury in patients undergoing On-pump coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery with cross-clamp fibrillation or blood cardioplegia for myocardial protection. The molecular mechanisms leading to these effects are yet not fully understood. The purpose of the present study is to validate previous studies and gather further evidence for RIPC during CABG with blood cardioplegia, furthermore to determine, whether or not RIPC is still operative during Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB), finally to elucidate intra-cellular mechanisms involved in myocardial protection by RIPC and their possible systemic mediators.

This is a prospective, multi-center, open label, randomized study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of The TIVOLI Biodegradable polymer Rapamycin-Eluting Stent comparing with The FIREBIRD2™ Rapamycin-eluting Stent (DES) for Treatment Coronary Revascularization.

The study is to assess the safety and possible efficacy of umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (UCBMC) treatment of chronic ischemic stroke.

Background: Lower limb arterial revascularization procedures, either percutaneously or surgically performed, are an established treatment modality of ischemic foot ulcers, especially in the setting of a critical limb ischemia. Many other lower limb ulcers are secondary to a combined disease, which may include a concomitant venous disease (chronic venous insufficiency or varicous disease) or a micro-angiopathic disease (i.e. small vessel disease). In this setting, and especially in the absence of a concomitant severe macro-angiopathic disease, the safety and efficacy of a percutaneous lower limb revascularization have so far never been evaluated in a prospective study. Aim: This study is aimed to evaluate the safety and the efficacy of an endovascular revascularization approach of the lower limb, in all consecutive patients presenting with a non-healing ulcer associated with a mild to moderate peripheral artery disease (i.e. mixed-origin ulcers). Material and methods: This prospective study will consecutively include all patients presenting with a non-healing ulcer. Included patients must have all the concomitant ulcer co-factors being adequately treated for at least 6 months. Accordingly, an underlying venous disease, infectious disease or inflammatory disorder must be previously evaluated and adequately treated (i.e. compression stocking, varices stripping, antibiotics, local ± systemic anti-inflammatory, etc.). Furthermore, a non-invasive arterial evaluation must be obtained in all patients. The arterial screening must included an ankle-brachial index (ABI) and toe pressure (TP) measurements, a trans-cutaneous oxygen measurement (tcPO2) at the foot and calf levels and a non-invasive arterial mapping (i.e. angio-CT or angio-MRI). This arterial work-up must be compatible with the presence of a mild to moderate peripheral artery disease without any sign or criteria suggesting the presence of a critical limb ischemia. End-points: The success rate of perform an endovascular revascularization intervention in all consecutive patients which qualify according to the inclusion criteria (technical feasibility). Establish the proportion of procedural related complications (safety). Analyze the clinical and the para-clinical improvements in term of heal of the ulcers, as well as the improvement of the ABI, TP, tcPO2 at 1 week, 1-3-6 months after the procedure (efficacy). Sample size: The investigators plan to include ≈ 30 patients in two years. After 1 year of enrollment the investigators will perform an interim analysis and will decide at that moment, according to the observed end-points, if prolonging the study would be of any scientific value or if the study has to be interrupt earlier because of a significant improvement of all already treated ulcers.

Even if it is a daily questioning for the stroke physician, no concrete recommendation exists regarding the time-point of the mobilization of stroke patients. In this study, we will compare two mobilisation strategies: early versus delayed "verticalisation". 400 ischemic stroke patients will be included in this prospective randomized controlled trial, equally distributed in two groups. In the early mobilisation procedure the patient is allowed to go and sit outside of the bed the day after the stroke onset, whereas in the other arm, this procedure is delayed to the third day after stroke onset. The outcome in both groups will be assessed by the modified Rankin Scale at 3 months, which is commonly used in stroke study to investigate the functional outcome of the patients.

The primary objective of the study is to determine whether the STARFlex® septal closure system will safely and effectively prevent a recurrent embolic stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) and mortality in patients with a PFO and to demonstrate superiority of the STARFlex® device compared to best medical therapy.

Aims and Hypotheses: This randomised placebo controlled study will test the hypothesis that Recombinant Activated Factor VII (rVIIa) will improve haemostasis after an inadequate response to conventional therapy in complex cardiac surgery. Major bleeding is still of concern in complex cardiac surgery. It has been shown to be associated with poorer patient outcome and results in the consumption of resources (hospital costs, manpower and blood bank reserves). This study has the potential to provide evidence that rVIIa can reduce transfusion requirements and improve patient outcome in a problematic aspect of complicated cardiac surgery. The objective is to conduct a multi-centre randomised placebo controlled study that has been designed to scientifically evaluate the treatment of post bypass coagulopathy in the association with complex cardiac surgery. The trial design is based on clinical practice that has evolved over 2 years at the Austin Hospital during which 38 patients have received open label administration of rVIIa. There is currently no published RCT in this area and there is no TGA approval for the use of rVIIa for this indication.