All clinical trials

This project will compare the rate of regression of minimally abnormal Pap smears to normal in women who receive Gardasil to a historical control group. Research hypothesis: Women with low grade cervical dysplasia on Papanicolaou (Pap) smear that receive Gardasil vaccination will revert to a normal within one year at a rate 33% higher than historical controls that did not receive Gardasil vaccination.

This study is to try to maintain cultured dermal papilla cells in spherical structure in vitro before transplanting into dermis in vivo. Also, this study is aimed in clarifying actual mechanism of inducing hair follicle by dermal papilla cells.

To determine if daily bathing with chlorhexidine impregnated washcloths will reduce the incidence of MRSA and VRE within an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or ward setting.

Little is known about the epidemiologic risk factors associated with the development of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), and less is known about the role that genetic susceptibility plays in the development of AML. We propose to conduct a population-based study to investigate genetic susceptibility in adult AML patients, both de novo and treatment-related in a well-defined geographical area. Using a case-control design, we will prospectively enroll 400 patients from Texas and 800 healthy controls. Controls will be recruited using random digit dialing, and will be matched to the cases by age, gender, and ethnicity. Epidemiological and demographic information will be obtained through personal interviews, and will be integrated with clinical information, cytogenetic data, and genotypic markers. Blood specimens will be collected on all participants, who will be genotyped for markers associated with activation and detoxification of chemical carcinogens, including chemotherapy drugs. Polymorphisms in genes such as cytochrome p450 (CYP2E1), glutathione S-transferases (GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1), epoxide hydrolase (HYL1), NADPH-quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) will be analyzed. This study will provide insight into the role that these susceptibility markers, along with clinical epidemiological, and cytogenetic factors, play in the identification of people at risk of developing AML. Understanding how genetic predisposition and exogenous exposures interact to determine AML susceptibility will allow the development of prevention strategies in the future.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in Western societies. It is a complex genetic disorder with many genes involved and significant gene-environment interactions. The aim of the study is to identify novel genetic- and biological-markers of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is assessed in the coronary arteries using coronary angiography as well as in the carotid artery (intima-media-thickness) and peripheral vessels (ankle brachial index). Association analysis of genetic and metabolic markers with atherosclerotic burden will be performed to identify novel factors of disposition to atherosclerotic vascular disease.

The objective of this study is to review studies and patient symptoms before and after laparoscopic Heller myotomy to assess outcomes following laparoscopic surgery for achalasia.

Acrochordon, or soft fibroma, is a common benign skin tumor which is generally regarded as a sign of cutaneous aging or as a reaction to friction since it occurs in the intertriginous areas. Recent studies have shown the presence of human papillomaviruses, especially the mucosal types, on some of the intertriginous lesions. This study is to analyze the different clinical presentations of acrochordon and correlate them with pathologic and molecular human papillomavirus findings. Further goal is to improve the ability to differentiate acrochordon and its possible prevention and treatment. Also, it may have an implication on the transmission and prevention of cervical carcinoma.

In daily clinical use, pulse high dosis corticosteroids are used to treat cerebral edema in different pathological situations ( surgery, trauma, tumors...). Dehydration can theorically concern extra-cellular or intracellular water, or both. The relative proportion of those two components are not known, as well their kinetics. Diffusion Weighted Imaging ( DWI) is a none invasive and none toxic technique to study those phenomena.We can also study the diffusivity anisotropy not using a Gaussian distribution but rather a non- gaussian one, more close to the reality ( q Space Imaging ). Finally, we can study the compartment redistribution between slow and rapid water molecules diffusion by bi-exponential decomposition of the diffusion signal, corresponding, theorically, respectively to the intra- and extra-cellular component. Hypothesis : The high dosis steroid pulse therapy modifies or not the water free diffusion in DWI and qSI ? Is there a modification in the diffusivity of both rapid and slow component ?

Early detection of prostrate cancer and development of metastases. The research will attempt to match the SCM test (structuredness of the cytoplasmic matrix) in lymphocytes as an early cancer detection test using Florescent Activated Cell Sorting (FACS) as a replacement for the CellScan instrument. The test is based on measurement of cellular changes in response to the specific prostate antigen, PSA.

Hypothesis: What is the natural course after treatment with radioactive iodine in patients with hyperthyroidism? What are the determinants for the development of acute hypo- or hyperthyroidism after treatment with radioactive iodine without antithyroid drugs?