There are more than 498,563 clinical trials published worldwide with over 60,000 trials that are currently either recruiting or not yet recruiting. Use our filters on this page to find more information on current clinical trials or past clinical trials (free or paid) for study purposes and read about their results.
Frequently glaucoma is not controlled with clinical treatment ("eyedrops") or laser surgery to control your eye pressure. If this raised pressure is sustained over a long period of time it can lead to permanent damage to the optic nerve (glaucoma) and in severe cases it can result in blindness. You also have cataracts, an opacification of the natural lens inside the eye that is impairing your vision. To prevent further vision loss due to glaucoma, your doctor has recommended glaucoma filtration surgery to lower your eye pressure, and cataract surgery at the same time to improve your sight. The use of the anti-metabolite (Mitomycin-C) during the operation is currently the drug of choice to improve surgical outcome for glaucoma filtration surgery. Mitomycin-C is a potent antiscarring agent that reduces the amount of scar tissue produced after surgery which leads to better control of eye pressure. Although this potent drug is effective in increasing surgical success, its use is related to a higher risk of post surgical complications, some of which are sight threatening. The Collagen Matrix Implant is a biodegradable implant (absorbed naturally by tissue), made from porcine collagen, which reduces scar tissue formed after glaucoma filtration surgery without the use of Mitomycin-C. This means that you could be less likely to have a failed glaucoma filtration surgery, and consequently, a poor eye pressure control. In addition, the risk of surgical failure may be reduced because with this technique, we will not be using potent drugs. However, the long-term effect of the OculusGenTm implant in glaucoma filtration surgery is not fully known. The aim of the study is to determine whether the OculusGenTm implant can equal the success rate of Mitomycin-C in controlling eye pressure, without the potentially sight threatening complications associated with Mitomycin use. And at the same time, this study aim to determine if the implant can reduce potential complications related to glaucoma surgery when compared to the combined surgery augmented with anti-proliferative agents. This study will recruit 66 subjects from patients attending the Singapore National Eye Centre over a period of 12-24 months.
This is a pilot randomized controlled trial of feasibililty and prelimnary effects of a 12 week tai chi intervention vs. usual care in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
The use of topical Cyclosporine A early after an episode of endothelial graft rejection after penetrating keratoplasty and continuing its administration for 6 months can reduce the course of that episode and recurrence of the rejection.
Aspheric intraocular lenses can effectively reduce higher-order aberrations and improve contrast sensitivity function after cataract surgery.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the new diabetes care delivery system applied to preexisting public health care resources through advanced information technologies such as PDA-type glucometer and the Internet on the glycemic control of type 2 diabetes patients lived in isolated rural area. The investigators conducted a prospective, randomized, controlled trial in patients with type 2 diabetes for 12 weeks. The intervention group was treated with the new health care delivery system, where diabetes center provided specialized management, mediated by nurse of primary health care posts using the Internet and the PDA-type glucometer, while the control group with conventional health care. HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose and lipids levels were measured at baseline and follow-up.
- Background: Ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP) is the most prevalent nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICUs). Early microbiological diagnosis and initial administration of appropriate antimicrobial therapy are associated with a better outcome. Broad-spectrum antibiotics should therefore be administered initially. However, inconsiderate antibiotic use can increase the prevalence of multi-resistant bacteria. - Purpose: A rapid antimicrobial susceptibility method is required to decrease the unnecessary use of empirical broad-spectrum antibiotics. The aim of this study is to compare the efficiency of a rapid antibiogram, provided by E-test strips directly applied to bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples and analysed at 24 h, to that obtained with standard methods of culture which provide a later result. - Study design: This will be an open-label, prospective cohort study of consecutive patients with VAP, conducted in a medical ICU. In addition to standard culture methods, an E-test will be performed directly on BAL samples and analysed at 24 h. Each standard BAL culture will be used as a control for the E-test method. - Primary outcome: The occurrence of major errors, defined as isolates determined to be susceptible by the E-test but resistant by standard culture methods. - Secondary outcomes: The occurrence of minor errors (defined as isolates determined to be resistant by the E-test and susceptible by the standard method), and a comparison of two methods of seeding BAL samples on Mueller Hinton agar plates (swabbing method, flooding method). - Eligibility criteria: - Inclusion criteria: all patients with suspected VAP (defined by a Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score ≥5) undergoing BAL will be eligible. - Exclusion criteria: contraindications for BAL (PaO2/FIO2 <100, risk of bronchoscopy-related haemorrhagic complications), secondary exclusion of patients with negative cultures, defined by a threshold of bacteria <104 CFU/ml. - Interventions: BAL samples will be cultured by standard methods and the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of bacteria to the usual antibiotics will be determined using standard procedures. At the time of BAL collection, a rapid antibiogram will be performed by placing E-test antibiotic strips (AB Biodisk) directly onto Mueller-Hinton agar plates seeded with the BAL specimen (both by flooding and swabbing). E-test strips will be impregnated with cefoxitin, piperacillin-tazobactam, cefepime, imipenem, ciprofloxacin and amikacin. At 24 h, the E-test plates will be photographed and then examined separately by both a bacteriologist and a medical ICU physician following a consensus method. The final E-test results will be compared with the standard MIC cultures.
The objective of this study is to determine if the implementation of guidelines utilizing immediate CT Perfusion and CT Angiography in addition to non-contrast CT alters (reduces or increases) the time to decision-making for or against rt-PA in acute ischemic stroke, and by extension, time to therapy in treated patients and time to transfer from the department for all patients. A secondary objective is to determine if using CTP/CTA-inclusive hyperacute stroke guidelines improves safety by decreasing symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage and mortality in patients who receive rt-PA.
The impact on cardiovascular events achieved by statin therapy seems to be mostly attributable to the cholesterol-lowering effect with a highly debated contribution of the lipid-independent pleiotropic effects. However, a short-term benefit has been documented for patients treated with statins in acute coronary syndromes and other clinical settings. These observations strengthened the hypothesis of additional, so-called pleiotropic actions of statins. The investigators therefore sought to investigate how different lipid-lowering strategies (non-statin therapy, low-dose statin and high-dose statin) affects cellular composition of carotid plaque over a short-term period of three months. Specifically the investigators tried and dissect the LDL-C lowering impact on plaque cellular composition as compared to the lipid-independent contribution on plaque macrophage and smooth muscle cells.
Main aim and objective The aim was to present the treatment of infectious diseases in elderly, especially in nursing homes and further to evaluate the effect of an intervention package aiming at improving treatment with antibiotics in Swedish nursing homes Specific objectives - Present the treatment patterns regarding infectious diseases, including gender aspects in elderly, especially in nursing homes. - Through focus group discussions elucidate the decision making process in nursing homes and target the intervention. - Based on the above information develop an educational intervention to contribute to the improvement of the prescribing of antibiotics in nursing homes - Evaluate the effect of the intervention on quality of prescribing, knowledge and attitudes in relation to available guidelines
The almost single disadvantage of conventional polyurethane film dressings, an uncontrolled leakage, is probably as often described as its numerous advantages for split-thickness skin graft (STSG) donor sites. This shortcoming can be overcome by perforating the polyurethane dressing (MPD), which permits a controlled leakage into a secondary absorbent dressing. The study was conducted to compare the MPD-system and Aquacel® (ConvaTec), a hydrofiber wound dressing, which also seems to fulfill all criteria of an ideal donor site dressing.