Active clinical trials for "Tuberculosis"

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection causing 1.1 million deaths annually worldwide. Diagnosis of the disease is often time consuming or challenging. Many cases of tuberculosis require advanced and expensive diagnostic methods that restrict their availability in resource limited countries where the burden of tuberculosis is highest. The development of rapid point of care diagnostics is required. Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is part of the bacterial cell wall in M. tuberculosis. It is released when bacteria are multiplying or dying. LAM can be detected in the urine since it is filtered from the blood in the kidneys. The detection of LAM in the urine by conventional enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) techniques was hampered in the past by a low sensitivity and multiple processing steps. Recently, fluorescence linked immuno-sorbent assay (FLISA) has been shown to detect LAM in concentrations that are several magnitudes lower that with ELISA based methods. Furthermore the procedure requires less separate steps for processing the sample. This study aims to validate the new diagnostic test by comparing patients with (a) confirmed tuberculosis (n=25), (b) infection with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (n=25), (c) bronchial carcinoma (n=25), (d) suspected tuberculosis but confirmed alternative diagnosis (estimated n=20). Single blood and urine samples of these groups will be used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the test. In patients with confirmed tuberculosis the LAM FLISA will also be assessed as a biomarker for the monitoring of tuberculosis treatment success. Initially, 2-5 samples blood and urine are required during the first week, followed by twice weekly and weekly sampling intervals over a period of 12 weeks maximum. The study participation ends when the patient is discharged from hospital. As a substudy, the blood samples will be used to evaluate an enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of lipid antigens that are specific for Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The aim of this study is to develop a scoring system and a prediction model for differential diagnosis between intestinal tuberculosis and Crohn's disease.

The purpose of this study is to access conversion rate of TST (Tuberculin skin test) and Quantiferon-TB Gold In tube assay in health care workers.

Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection causing 1.1 million deaths annually worldwide. Diagnosis of the disease is often time consuming or challenging. Many cases of tuberculosis require advanced and expensive diagnostic methods that restrict their availability in resource limited countries where the burden of tuberculosis is highest. The development of rapid point of care diagnostics is required. Published data confirm that trained African giant-pouched rats are able to identify M. tuberculosis cultures through olfactory recognition. A first trial using an electronic nose reported a rate of detection of 85% in tuberculosis patients. A further trial was closed in June 2011 but remains unpublished, yet. The olfactory pattern that potentially allows the recognition of tuberculosis remains unknown. This trial aims to detect first patterns of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that bear a potential for further development and fine tuning. A technical prototypic device of Siemens is used for pattern detection. The study is comparing 3 groups of patients: patients with confirmed active pulmonary tuberculosis (n=20) patients with other inflammatory lung diseases (pneumonia, sarcoidosis, COPD, bronchial carcinoma) (n=20) healthy volunteers that do not work in the hospital or visit the hospital regularly Detailed data for all study subjects will be collected for this trial in order to eliminate confounding factors. Furthermore, detailed data of the surroundings of the patient, the surroundings of the technical device and of the operator will be captured. Hypothesis: The pattern of exhaled volatile organic compounds allows the detection of pulmonary tuberculosis

Background: - In spite of well-researched treatments and therapies, 5 to 10 percent of tuberculosis (TB) patients who have initially successful TB treatments will relapse, usually within a year after completion of therapy. This percentage is even greater for patients who are infected with multi-drug resistant and extensively drug resistant types of TB. Because the People s Republic of China has the second highest number of TB cases in the world, researchers are interested in studying TB patients in China to evaluate their response to treatment on a long-term basis. Objectives: To improve TB diagnosis and testing by determining the number and proportion of patients admitted with suspected TB who actually have TB (definite or probable). To assess the prevalence of non-tuberculosis bacteria among patients with presumed TB. Eligibility: - Individuals between 18 and 65 years of age who have been admitted to Henan Provincial Chest Hospital with suspected tuberculosis. Design: Participants will be divided into three groups, based on their diagnosis after admission. Another group of individuals who do not have TB will be enrolled as controls for comparison purposes during the study. The study will use computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest at initial enrollment, 2 months, and 6 months to evaluate disease response to treatment. Incidents of TB that are not in the chest area (extrapulmonary TB) will also be studied. The study will also monitor the treatments and therapies used against the disease, changes in patients immune systems, and any changes in the biological samples taken over the course of treatment.

Interferon gamma releasing assay(IGRA) is useful to diagnose latent tuberculosis. However,IGRA responses could show within-subject variability. We wanted to determine long-term IGRA variability in health-care workers who continuously expose to tuberculosis patients.

Vitamin D has been regarded to be beneficial to tuberculosis (TB) patients. The aim of this study is to elucidate the role of vitamin D deficiency in development and treatment outcomes among Korean TB patients. Furthermore, the impact of genotypes of vitamin D receptor gene on TB development will also be evaluated.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate in hospital environment the knowledge of the health care professionals about fundamental concepts on tuberculosis and the accomplishment to respiratory isolation practices for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis hospitalized in a public hospital in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.

Enlarged glands in the chest (mediastinal lymphadenopathy) is a common problem and may have a variety of different causes. In the past an operation (mediastinoscopy) was required to diagnose the glands. Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) is a new procedure that may be able to diagnose these glands without the need for mediastinoscopy. The REMEDY trial aims to examine whether EBUS can reduce the number of mediastinoscopies and healthcare costs in patients with enlarged glands in the chest.

The investigators will evaluate the usefulness of QuantiFERON-TB Gold in-tube (QFT) in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis in young adults group, highly clinically suspected tuberculosis.