Active clinical trials for "Lung Diseases"

The purpose of the study is to determine a possible association between the clinical entity of exacerbation, markers of systemic inflammation and endothelial dysfunction in patients with COPD.

This project will evaluate the effects of World Trade Center (WTC) exposure in WTC responders 10-13 years following the events of 9/11. Prior studies have described persistent pulmonary function abnormalities in a significant portion of responders. The investigators study seeks to examine the relationship between pulmonary function abnormalities and other markers of chronic cardiopulmonary disease and further elucidate the pathophysiologic effects of exposure to inhaled particulate matter (PM) on 9/11. This study will provide critical information regarding risk of exposure to PM, risk factors for disease and potential for improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

Primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD), also known as Kartagener syndrome, is a genetic disorder of the cilia, which are microscopic hair-like cells. Cilia work to keep the respiratory system clean by moving mucus that contains debris to the large airways, where it can be coughed out. People with PCD have cilia that do not move properly and therefore are not effective in cleaning the respiratory system. This study will determine when PCD starts and how it changes over time, specifically in terms of how well the lungs work, what germs grow in lung secretions, and how the lungs look on computed tomography (CT) scans.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are common respiratory diseases in which people experience long-term inflammation of the lungs. Exacerbations, or prolonged worsening of symptoms, of asthma and COPD are often life-threatening and can lead to frequent need for hospitalization. Even with the proper use of bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and other currently available medications, clinical responses among people with COPD and asthma are variable. There remains a significant unmet clinical need for new therapeutic approaches and insights, including the identification of biomarkers to accurately assess the presence of airway infection and intensity of airway inflammation. This study will investigate potential natural biological causes and new biomarkers for increased susceptibility to persistent airway infection in asthma and COPD.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are diseases that affect a person's ability to breathe normally. People who do not receive enough vitamin D may have a higher risk of developing asthma or COPD. This study will examine previously collected blood samples of participants in three studies to determine whether people with low vitamin D levels have an increased risk of severe asthma or COPD.

The purpose of this research is to understand the properties of mucus in persons with COPD, specifically Chronic Bronchitis. We hypothesize that those with Chronic Bronchitis have dehydrated mucus, and thus have a harder time coughing it out of their lungs. This leads to a greater vulnerability for lung infection, inflammation and airflow obstruction. Ultimately, our goal is to understand how mucus dehydration contributes to the progression of COPD/Chronic Bronchitis so that better therapies and interventions can be developed for future generations.

Lung transplantation is indicated when end-stage lung diseases no longer respond to available standard therapy, making life expectancy short and associated with disability. Acute and chronic rejection are common complications following transplantation, indicating screening bronchoscopies and transbronchial biopsies at three month intervals the first two years, in addition to clinically indicated procedures when rejection or infection is suspected. Transbronchial biopsies carry associated risks (bleeding, pneumothorax). Chronic rejection is characterized by progressive obliteration of distal airways (Bronchiolitis Obliterans-BO-). BO requires open lung biopsy for diagnosis. Alternatively, a clinical surrogate (Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome), characterized by decline in Forced Expired Volume in 1 second not explained by acute rejection or infection is used for diagnosis. The new technique of confocal endo-microscopy enables sub-surface visualization of tissue in vivo during bronchoscopic procedures using a probe-based confocal microscope, integrated to a standard endoscope. Bronchiolar and alveolar structures can be visualized at a cellular and nuclear level, and these images can be saved and reviewed. This new technology could potentially identify acute and chronic rejection, thus offering and alternative to transbronchial biopsies. We expect to describe a new alternative to diagnose acute and chronic rejection using confocal microscopy images obtained endoscopically, obviating complications of transbronchial biopsies. Endoscopic confocal endomicroscopy can detect and classify common bronchiolar and alveolar pathological conditions in real time. Specifically, we hypothesize that confocal endomicroscopy images of bronchiolar and alveolar structures during standard bronchoscopy could help to recognize and classify the presence/absence of acute rejection and/or bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome in lung transplant recipients. This technology could also identify the histological characteristics lung diseases such as interstitial, obstructive or vascular end stage lung diseases, and thus lead to more efficient, safer and more accurate diagnosis of these lung conditions during routine bronchoscopies.

Nasal CPAP will improve cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) performance in patients with overlap syndrome(COPD and OSA). Nasal CPAP is proven to improve cardiopulmonary exercise testing in patients with OSA. The investigators hypothesis is that patients with overlap syndrome will have a greater improvement in their cardiopulmonary exercise testing besides a possible improvement in their lung function test and airway resistance.

There are 24,000 admissions each year to Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the United Kingdom due to pneumonia, asthma and a common condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with rates of death of 10%, 40% and 50%, respectively. These conditions account for 10% of all ICU admissions. It is therefore important to find out if it would be possible to detect deteriorations in patients with breathing problems early, in order to increase appropriately their level of care. Clinical early warning scores (EWS) are used in many hospitals to detect patients whose medical condition is getting worse, and who are likely to need admission to intensive care or high dependency care units. EWS are usually calculated from several measurements taken from the patient, such as blood pressure, temperature and heart rate. However, they are often inaccurate as they need to be calculated manually by nursing staff from a number of measurements taken from a variety of different devices. Furthermore, even when accurately calculated, it is not clear how helpful EWS are in predicting whether or not patients will deteriorate. Neural respiratory drive (NRD) is an objective indicator of breathlessness, and can be derived from the amount of electrical activity occurring in certain muscles used in breathing. The Myotrace system measures this electrical activity, as well as measurements such as rate of breathing and heart rate. It then analyses these measurements together to help identify patients at risk of deterioration. This study will use Myotrace to monitor patients with severe breathing difficulties due to an acute worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, for early identification of failure to respond to medical treatment. Patients will be recruited at St. Thomas' Hospital. This research is funded by the Guy's and St. Thomas' Charity.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic lung disease. Azithromycin, an antibiotic, may be beneficial at reducing the symptoms and severity of the disease. This study will analyze previously collected study data to evaluate the anti-inflammatory properties of azithromycin and determine how azithromycin affects the frequency and severity of COPD exacerbations.