Active clinical trials for "Ischemia"

Many stress tests being done today have two parts, the stress test and the pictures of your heart. The investigators are comparing a newer technique to obtain the pictures (PET imaging) to the standard method (SPECT imaging). However, it is not known if the new test is better than the old test. It is important to have a standard to compare these tests to, and that is why people who will be getting a cardiac catheterization are being asked to participate. The information about your arteries from the cardiac catheterization will be used to judge which stress test is better. The investigators hypothesize that the newer method (PET imaging) will be more accurate than the old method (SPECT) in detecting heart disease.

During or after surgery, patients may suffer heart attacks or other heart complications, increasing the hospital stay by 11 days on average and costing an estimated US$20 billion in 1990.Many risk factors have been identified but there are no properly conducted studies to look at Blood pressure (BP) as a risk factor around the time of surgery. The investigators believe there is a good possibility that systolic BP (SBP) is a risk factor but currently unrecognized. When measuring BP, two numbers are obtained. The upper number is called SBP and a lower number called diastolic BP (DBP). If the numbers are high, this means that the patient has a high BP or hypertension. If the SBP is high while DBP is normal, it is called isolated systolic hypertension (ISH)> ISH is increasingly recognized as a major risk factor for heart problems. The relationship between ISH and heart complications around the time of surgery is poorly understood. Previous studies did not look at such a relationship. Because of that, there are no guidelines for ISH management at the time of surgery. Generally, these patients go through surgery as if they have no increased risk. Studies are starting to show that the bulk of these heart complications happen in patients thought to have low risk factors not yet identified, including ISH. The investigators believe that the oxygen supply to the heart can be compromised around the time of surgery in ISH patients Chemicals known as stress hormones are secreted around the time of surgery, increasing oxygen needs in the heart and may make the oxygen supply to the heart muscle critical (know as myocardial ischemia). This in turn may result in a heart attack and death. Studies have shown that patients with myocardial ischemia stand a 9-fold increase in odds ratio of suffering a heart attack, worsening of angina, or death. This study aims to compare the incidence of myocardial ischemia in patients with ISH and normal BP patients around the time of surgery using a special heart monitor. In addition, the study aims to determine the prevalence of ISH among surgical patients and to document complications like heart attacks, heart failure, stroke and death after surgery. This research project will be conducted at the Ottawa Hospital by a multi-disciplinary research group (perioperative research group)which includes anesthesiology, cardiology, general surgery and epidemiology. The research group secured HSFO funding for this study.

The purpose of the Universal Registry is to assess the proportion and reasons for which subjects with angiographically significant ULMCA disease requiring revascularization during the time course of this study are not randomized; to compare the baseline characteristics of subjects; and to assess the variability in randomization eligibility and treatment patterns.

Esophageal electrocardiography (eECG) has important advantages compared to standard ECG recordings. Coronary artery disease leading to myocardial ischemia is very common and has potentially severe consequences for patients. To date, the investigators don't know the influence of ischemia on the eECG. The goal of the present study is to assess ischemic changes of the eECG induced by balloon occlusion of coronary arteries in patients undergoing coronary angiography.

This is an observational study examining serum markers in patients who are undergoing either a cadaveric liver transplant or a living related liver transplant.

Using blood testing and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the investigators aim to determine if there are necrotic areas of myocardium in participants who complete a marathon. In addition, the investigators aim to describe the acute and chronic structural abnormalities that occur as a result of endurance training. The study hypothesis is that myocardial necrosis is present in runners completing a marathon competition.

Asymptomatic subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus were randomized to either screening with Tc-99m sestamibi adenosine SPECT imaging or no screening. All patients will be followed for 5 years for the occurrence of cardiac death or non-fatal myocardial infarction. The aims are: To prospectively assess the prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia in asymptomatic subjects with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. To identify on the basis of clinical and/or biochemical variables in a high-risk cohort in which screening for coronary artery disease is appropriate. To assess progression of (silent) myocardial ischemia after 3 years. To assess the occurence of cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction during 5 years follow-up in screened and not screened subjects.

This study is designed to evaluate the technical performance and clinical handling of a coronary catheter that includes two imaging techniques. The catheter being evaluated performs near infrared spectroscopy and ultrasound imaging of the coronary arteries. Near infrared spectroscopy is used to identify lipid or cholesterol deposits in the vessel wall and the ultrasound component provides structural information about the vessel. Combining multiple imaging techniques into a single catheter can reduce the total number of catheters required during treatment and the overall duration of cardiac catheterization. Both of these results may lead to safer procedures.

Patients with stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are at high risk of poor outcome, recurrence of cardiovascular events or vascular death.Until now, no reliable predictive biological marker could be identified in the acute phase of stroke.We hypothese that, in the acute phase of ischemic stroke or TIA, the increase of cardiac ( brain natriuretic peptide, BNP) or renal markers (albuminuria, cystatin C)might predict recurrence of cardiovascular events or vascular death. We want to assess which one of these markers has the best prognosis value , in a prospective study of 300 stroke patients followed during 3 years.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the clinical and morphological characteristics of chronic subclinical inflammation in the myocardium in patients with decompensated heart failure with ischemic systolic dysfunction.