All clinical trials

The purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence of pathologic eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in the cohort of adult patients who present for specialty care in the gastroenterology clinics with complaint of difficulty swallowing (dysphagia). From this, the investigators will make recommendations regarding routine screening for the diagnosis in this cohort. The prevalence of EoE in patients presenting for specialty care in the gastroenterology clinics with the complaint of dysphagia is great enough that the diagnosis should be routinely screened against in this cohort.

The current study is aimed to evaluate various imaging methods, including multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) as potential surrogates to assess the degree of damage caused to the heart by radiation therapy to the breast, in breast cancer survivors many years before it becomes clinically apparent.

Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne transmitted infection. Its clinical expression include fever, cytopenia and hepatitis.This infection was initially described in United States. In Europe, its epidemiology is not well known. Some isolated cases have been diagnosed in several country, were the tick Ixodes ricinus is known to transmitted another infection :the Lyme borreliosis.The purpose of our study is to look systematically for Anaplasmosis, in patient living in Eastern France, and presenting with compatible clinical symptoms using a new diagnosis tool : PCR in blood samples. So we will have new data about epidemiology in our country and the clinical symptoms that are associated with Anaplasmosis.

At the Falls Prevention Clinic, each subject receives a comprehensive assessment of his or her individual risk factors for falling in addition to a comprehensive medical examination. Recommendations and appropriate followup tests and referrals are ordered for patients on an individual basis. Essential for medical advancement is the inquiry into information collected from medical records of older adults at high risk of falls and fracture. On such example is a retrospective chart review we conducted among patients who sustained a hip fracture [14]. The database we propose will provide novel insight into the identification of individuals at high risk for falls, key predictors of falls and associated mortality, morbidity, health related quality of life and healthcare resource utilization. In summary, our database will enable us to assess and improve quality of care, service delivery, patient outcomes, patient reported outcomes and track economic burden.

After an uneventfully small gauge vitrectomy we don´t think is necessary to occlude the eye for 24 hours

There has been recent interest into the potential role of mucosal barrier defects in the pathophysiology of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). There has been evidence of increased intestinal permeability in patients of IBS,and abnormal tissue resistance in NERD. Although the mucosa of Functional dyspepsia (FD) patients is endoscopically and histologically "normal," it contains ultrastructural changes, activated immune cells, along with evidence of an increased release of mediators leading to gastric dysfunction. There is now consistent evidence indicating that mucosal barrier defects allow the passage of an increased load of bacteria, antigens and toxins which, in turn evoke activation of mucosal immune responses involved in the FD symptom.

The aim of this research project is to establish a students' perspective to most medical schools in Taiwan. We expect that these surveys will provide helpful information to candidates for selection of medical school before admission, and will also be a useful reference guide to improve quality of medical education to our governmental policy makers.

Bladder cancer ranks the ninth in worldwide cancer incidence. Approximate 90% of bladder cancer is the malignancy of urothelium tissues, the urothelial cancer (UC). The mortality of bladder cancer is mainly due to recurrence and metastasis. Unfortunately, the currently available cytology or cystoscopy examination is of limited value because of low sensitivity of early disease. New biomarkers as well as detection technology are thus required to improve early diagnosis. By the aid of quantitative methylation-specific PCR (QMSP), which allows detecting tumor-derived DNA from tissues and body fluids, DNA methylation-based assay is thus developing for early detection and prognosis. The goal of this proposed project is to develop a panel of DNA-methylation based biomarkers for UC diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of responses to therapy (especially the recurrence, invasion, survival, and responses to therapeutic agents). Although numerous studies have investigated the aberrant promoter hypermethylation in bladder cancers or UC, inconsistent results are observed. DNA hypermethylation determination may rely on not only the conditions of QMSP, but also the biopsy specimens of different race, environmental expose factors, and regional variation. We thus need to profile the DNA methylation pattern of UC patients in Taiwan to establish a panel of potential prediction biomarkers for local patients.

The purpose of this study is to determine if the facial pattern is related to the degree of bruxism because the muscles of mastication are the factors of force to the wear of the teeth.

The purpose of this prospective cohort study is to determine factors involved in survival in new COPD patients treated by long-term oxygen therapy. Background: long-term oxygen therapy is indicated in patients with severe COPD. No studies have been performed in the past 20-25 years to examine the results of early clinical trials. Further studies are necessary to understand the utility of oxygen therapy in severe COPD.