Active clinical trials for "Ischemia"

Until now it has been assumed that regular endurance training has a positive influence on cardiac function and that the positive effect increases with increasing intensity. However, little is known about the effects of intense endurance stress on the heart. According to current knowledge repeated exposure to strenuous endurance activity may lead to minor but possibly irreversible damage to the heart with resultant scarring of the heart's muscle. Within this study the investigators attempt to find out by different analytical methods - in particular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound of the heart - to what extent the heart muscle is affected by long term intense endurance exercise and which changes in cardiac function and morphology can possibly be found. Therefore the investigators compare former national competitive endurance athletes with sedentary controls.

Collateral growth and coronary angiogenesis are chronic adaptations to myocardial ischemia. Collateralization helps to restore blood flow and as a result salvages myocardium in severely ischemic myocardial regions. Thus, good collateral development in patients with severe coronary artery disease (CAD) improves ventricular function and prognosis (1-3). However, coronary collateral development is different among patients even with similar degrees of coronary artery stenosis. Several factors, such as diabetes mellitus (4) and duration of myocardial ischemic symptoms (5) have been reported to effect coronary collateral development. At the cellular level, inflammatory cells, especially monocytes have an important role in collateralization. In a series of experimental studies with animals, it has been shown that monocytes are important elements for development of collateral vessels (6-7). In a recent study, it has been demonstrated that increased circulating monocyte count is related to good collateral development in patients with stable coronary artery disease (8). Monocytes in human blood are heterogeneous and can be classified into two subsets according to the presence or absence of the FcγRIII receptor CD16 (9): CD14++CD16- monocytes characterized by high level expression of the CD14 cell surface receptor but no expression of CD16 receptor, and CD14+CD16+ monocytes characterized by the co-expression of CD16 receptor with either high or low level expression of the CD14 receptor. These subsets differ in function and response to several cytokines. Our aim in this study was to find out any possible relationship between the levels of circulating monocyte subsets and coronary collateral development.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Remote Ischemic Perconditioning is effective on Acute kidney injury in adult valve replacement.

The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of therapeutic hypothermia following perinatal asphyxia on neurological and neuropsychological outcomes and also to assess academic attainment and any additional health, societal or educational costs associated with changes in outcome as a result of the intervention. This study will determine whether the apparent initial benefits of cooling are maintained in the longer term. Perinatal asphyxia (a lack of oxygen occurring around the time of birth) may have long term consequences on brain functioning, which may be altered by treatment with hypothermia (cooling). Currently, there is no information on the effect of cooling on outcome beyond 18 months of age. We intend to assess at 6 - 7 years of age, the children that participated in the TOBY trial of whole body cooling following perinatal asphyxia and compare between the children that had received the cooling treatment soon after birth and those that were not treated with cooling, the number that survived with an intelligence quotient (IQ) greater than 84, the presence and severity of disabilities, educational attainment and the economic impact on families and service providers. If possible, children will be assessed in their school, with the option of alternative venues such as home or clinic if required. During the assessment a paediatrician will conduct a neurological examination. A psychologist will administer psychometric tests to evaluate cognitive, behavioural and motor development. Questionnaires completed by parents and teachers will complete the data collection. Economic factors will also be assessed in the parent questionnaire. Each child will have contact with the assessors during one school day with appropriate breaks. Assessments will take place over a period of 3 years.

The investigators are hoping to discover the cause of chest pain in patients with a normal coronary arteriogram. For patients with chest pain coronary angiography is the standard method by which the blood vessels of the heart can be visualized and any narrowing can be assessed. In some cases the investigators find totally normal coronary blood vessels or only minor disease. Such a finding is associated with an excellent long term prognosis. However, as a large proportion of patients with normal coronary arteries or mild coronary narrowings often continue to experience recurrent chest pains the investigators are interested in understanding the mechanisms responsible for this. The investigators hypothesise that in many cases, coronary artery spasms are responsible for the recurrent chest pains. These spasms usually respond to treatment with drugs known as vasodilators. The acetylcholine test (ACH-test) has been recommended by the European Society of Cardiology and the American College of Cardiology as a diagnostic test. This test can reveal whether the coronary blood vessels have a tendency to go into spasm. The investigators plan in this study to carry out the test in patients who have chest pains suggestive of coronary narrowings but are found to have normal or only mildly narrowed coronary arteries on angiography. A positive test -indicating a tendency for spasm- may help guiding therapy with vasodilators, which are often very effective to prevent coronary spasms. The investigators would also like to take blood samples during the test (before and after) from every patient to measure blood markers and see if there is a relation between these markers and the result of the ACH-test.

The clinical and radiological data of patients with an acute ischemic stroke treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) or intraarterial thrombolysis (IAT) in a Swiss stroke unit are assessed in a Swiss Multicenter Thrombolysis Registry. Like in clinical routine, a clinical evaluation takes place in a 3-months follow-up. Furthermore quality of life is assessed with a standardized questionnaire. The aim of the registry is to compare the safety and efficacy of IVT and IAT in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The registry also helps to improve in-hospital-management of stroke patients.

Heart attacks are usually caused by a blood clot blocking an artery supplying blood to the heart. Current treatments are designed to relieve this blockage as quickly as possible to minimize damage to the heart muscle. However in restoring the supply of blood local damage known as "ischaemia-reperfusion injury" may occur. The aim of this study is to assess how clot forming and clot dissolving pathways are affected during this process, and examine the role of a natural inflammatory hormone, bradykinin. This will help the investigators to understand the mechanism by which ischaemia-reperfusion injury may occur and to devise new treatments for heart attacks.

The purpose of this study is to compare women's cardiac rehabilitation program adherence across three program models.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and echocardiography are two imaging methods that are used to obtain pictures of the heart and assess heart function. This study will evaluate a new, four-dimensional echocardiography approach of obtaining heart images to determine if it is as effective at evaluating heart function as MRI.

The purpose of this study is to determine if levels of ischemia modified albumin (IMA) in blood are elevated in patients with suspected infection and are predictive of severity of illness in patients with sepsis. In order to compare subjects with infection to those without infection who are representative of the ED population at each site, a group of non-infected control patients will be enrolled. Each hospital will enroll subjects with age (by decade) and sex matched controls to reflect the population of subjects suspected of infection.