Active clinical trials for "Syndrome"

The purpose of this study is to examine whether body fat distribution changes that occur with weight gain in women recovering from anorexia nervosa are transient or persistent, and if they are associated with other features of Metabolic Syndrome.

Background: - Heritable disorders of connective tissue are genetic conditions that can affect the skin and other parts of the body. They are related to mutations in genes that are responsible for building tissues. The symptoms differ among disorders. Researchers want to study which genes may be responsible for different disorders. They will be performing a long-term (up to 10 years) study and a study that requires a single visit. These studies will look at how these disorders affect the body and what genes may cause these conditions. Objectives: - To perform one-time and long-term studies of people who have heritable disorders of connective tissue. Eligibility: - Individuals at least 2 years of age who have or may have a heritable disorder of connective tissue. Design: Participants will be screened with a physical exam, medical history, and blood samples. Participants will be on one of two parts of this study. The longitudinal arm will require long-term study over about 10 years. The mutational analysis arm will involve a single visit. Longitudinal arm participants must be at least 12 years of age. They will have study visits at regular intervals for up to 10 years. The tests given at these visits may include all or some of the following: Blood, saliva, urine, and skin samples Heart and lung function tests Magnetic resonance imaging scans of the neck, chest, spine, and abdomen Other imaging studies such as x-rays, bone density scans, and ultrasounds Questionnaires about sleep, pain, and quality of life Photographs of affected areas. Mutational analysis arm participants will have a single study visit. They will provide blood and saliva samples. They will provide tissue from a skin biopsy. They will also let the researchers take photos of any affected body parts. They will complete questionnaires about sleep, pain, and quality of life.

Glaucoma is a worldwide leading cause of blindness. The key feature of this ocular neuropathy is characterized by an excavating optic nerve head. Loss of retinal ganglion cells is the final end point in blinding diseases of the optic nerve such as glaucoma. It is known that neuronal cell death in glaucoma occurs by apoptotic mechanism. In earlier studies, the investigators demonstrated that the process of apoptosis is reflected in circulating leukocytes by different parameters, like differential messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression and an increased fragmentation of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). Such alterations point out a relationship between cellular stress and apoptotic events. Based on the results of mRNA-expression, the investigators also expect alterations on the protein level. This study is, therefore, designed to characterize the proteome related to the proteins involved in cell death related pathways. Thus the expression pattern of several proteins in leukocytes from patients with primary open angle glaucoma will be analyzed by techniques like Western-blot and tandem mass spectrometry. These samples will be compared with healthy controls. In addition, they will be also compared with samples from patients with Parkinson's disease. Since glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease, these patients will be included as a positive control in this study.

Middle and inner ear malformations on two boys with velocardiofacial syndrome are discussed.Special attention should be given to the presence of hearing loss due to middle and inner ear malformations, in addition to frequent conductive hearing loss regarding mastoid and middle ear inflammatory processes.

This study is based on the study of the natural history of a rare disorder: the Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) (which is associated with retinitis pigmentosa, polydactyly, cognitive impairment, obesity, and kidney failure). The clinical, biological, and radiological features of adult patients are studied. In parallel, a molecular study is performed on the known genes to date (8 genes from BBS1 to BBS8) and to identify new genes involved. The parts of the study are combined in a phenotype-genotype correlation study.

Aims This study was conducted to examine the association between the ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) genotype distribution in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and the response to steroid therapy. Patients and Methods The patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome were divided into 2 groups according to their clinical response to steroid: SS group including infrequent and frequent relapsers and non-SS group including steroid resistant (SR) and steroid dependent (SD) patients. Children without previous renal diseases and negative proteinuria were enrolled as control group in genetic study. The genotypes for ACE gene I/D polymorphism including DD, ID and II were analyzed by the newly developed automatic denaturing high performance liquid chromatography system (DHPLC).

Retrospectively review the charts of all children who had heart rate variability, deep breathing test, valsalva maneuver, tilt table test, thermoregulatory sweat testing, quantitative sudomotor axon reflex test (QSART) completed and were cared for at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

Survival for one of the most complex forms of congenital heart disease, hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), has improved dramatically. However, little is known about family stress, coping and outcomes following the diagnosis of HLHS. It is expected that families face emotional, social and financial stressors. Health care professionals have a unique opportunity to positively influence how families interpret and adapt to these stressors. The specific aims of the study are to describe perceived stress, and coping skills utilized, in parents of children with HLHS and their impact on family outcomes measured as well-being, adaptation and caregiver/family quality of life, and to describe changes in stress, coping, and adaptation and differences in perceptions of mothers versus fathers of children with HLHS over the first 14 months of life. The Resiliency Model of Family Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin, Thompson, & McCubbin, 1996) is the theoretical framework that guides this research. Hypotheses: Family perception of stress, and coping skills utilized, will have an impact on family outcomes measured as well-being, adaptation, and caregiver/family quality of life. Variables influencing perception of stress and variables influencing family coping will be significant predictors of family adaptation outcomes. Perceptions of stress, coping skills utilized, and family adaptation outcomes will improve during the first 14 months of life with an infant with HLHS. Mothers and fathers will report different perceptions of stress, coping skills utilized, and family adaptation outcomes during the first 14 months of life with an infant with HLHS.

The Williams syndrome is a disease in which supravalvular aortic stenosis, an elfin facies, mental retardation and other congenital defects are sometimes associated with abnormal vitamin D and calcium metabolism. Whereas some patients have been reported to show increased sensitivity to vitamin D or an exaggerated response of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D {25(OH)D} to administration of vitamin D and to have hypercalcemia caused by increased circulating 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D{1,25(OH)2D} in infancy and early childhood, most patients have normal calcium metabolism and normal values for circulating 25(OH)D and 1,25(OH)2D. We propose to carry out further studies of vitamin D metabolism to elucidate the mechanism(s) for abnormal vitamin D metabolism. We will determine the response of serum 1,25(OH)2D to administration of 1,25(OH)2D3. Measurement of the 1,25(OH)2D in the patients compared to normal subjects will be the primary outcome.

This study will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the brain to try to gain a better understanding of the disease process in Tourette s syndrome, a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. Tourette s syndrome is also associated with behavioral and emotional disturbances, including symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). MRI and MRS show chemical substances in the brain. Findings in normal volunteers will be compared with those of patients. Healthy volunteers and patients with Tourette s syndrome 14 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Volunteers will be screened with a medical history and physical and neurological examinations. Patients will be screened through NINDS protocol 93-N-0202. Participants will undergo MRI and MRS. MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to visualize brain anatomy and chemistry. For this study, the subject lies on a stretcher, which is moved into a strong magnetic field (the MRI scanner). Earplugs are worn to muffle loud thumping noises caused by the electrical switching of the radio frequency circuits. During the study, the subject lies still during each scan, for 1 to 8 minutes at a time. Total scanning time varies from 20 minutes to 2 hours, with most examinations lasting between 45 and 90 minutes. The subject can speak through an intercom with the staff member performing the study at all times during the procedure. Up to 5 studies may be performed.