There are about 13446 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Belgium. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
The COVID-19 pandemic health crisis forces health institutions to lower their standards of protection as supplies of personal protective equipment decrease despite the safety of front-line workers worldwide . This shortage specifically affects high-quality protective masks, such as those called FFP2. As alternatives, we offer a reusable mask based on a ventilation mask combined with a breathing filter for anesthesia breathing circuits. The purpose of the study is to assess the sealing potential of this mask in the field and possibly prove a non-inferior sealing compared to standard masks type FFP2.
Different trials have shown that fractional flow reserve (FFR) could successfully guide revascularization in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). It is conceivable that a similar revascularization guidance could be useful also for surgical revascularization i.e. coronary by-pass graft (CABG). Experience learns that grafts placed on vessels with hemodynamically non-significant stenosis often occlude due to competitive antegrade flow. Resting full-cycle Flow Ratio (RFR) is a measurement performed to evaluate the hemodynamic severity of coronary stenosis. Differently from FFR which is a measurement performed in maximal hyperemia, the RFR is a measurement that is performed in rest and therefore may predict better than FFR the baseline equilibriums that could lead to graft failure, while it has similar capacity to identify hemodynamically significant stenosis as FFR. It is unknown whether RFR guided CABG revascularization is superior as compared to angiography alone.
Pulmonary hypertension is a major determinant of postnatal survival in infants with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). The current care during the perinatal stabilisation period in infants born with this rare birth defect might contribute to the development of pulmonary hypertension after birth - in particular umbilical cord clamping before lung aeration. An ovine model of diaphragmatic hernia demonstrated that cord clamping after lung aeration, called physiological-based cord clamping (PBCC), avoided the initial high pressures in the lung vasculature while maintaining adequate blood flow, thereby avoiding vascular remodelling and aggravation of pulmonary hypertension. The investigators aim to investigate if the implementation of PBCC in the perinatal stabilisation period of infants born with a CDH could reduce the incidence of pulmonary hypertension in the first 24 hours after birth. The investigators will perform a multicentre, randomised controlled trial in infants with an isolated CDH. Before birth, infants will be randomised to either PBCC or immediate cord clamping, stratified by treatment centre and severity of pulmonary hypoplasia on antenatal ultrasound. For performing PBCC a purpose-designed resuscitation module (the Concord Birth Trolley) will be used.
Tertiary care IBS patients will be recruited for a prospective low FODMAP intervention study, hereby focusing on the reintroduction phase of the diet, where patients are blindly challenged with different FODMAP groups administered as powder, to be added to the strict FODMAP exclusion phase. During the screening phase of two weeks, baseline data regarding psychological, nutritional, microbial, and genetics will be collected. Predictors of treatment response (a 50-point drop on the IBS-severity scoring system (IBS-SSS) during the strict FODMAP exclusion phase of 6 weeks) will be studied with linear mixed models.
The primary objective of the study is to evaluate cardiac and pulmonary hemodynamic changes over time as predictor of disease progression and outcome in COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU. The primary endpoint is the occurrence of a major event predefined as either: death (all-cause mortality) or discharge from ICU (limit of 4 months). This is a uni-center prospective observational cohort study with an inclusion period of 2 months. The end of the study is foreseen in 6 months.
The purpose of this pivotal study is to determine if intravenous Rezafungin is efficacious and safe in the prevention of invasive fungal diseases when compared to the standard antimicrobial regimen.
In the last 10 years, severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) was responsible of multiple outbreaks putting a strain on the public health worldwide. Indeed, SARI had a relevant role in the development of pandemic and epidemic with terrible consequences such as the 2009 H1N1 pandemic which led to more than 200.000 respiratory deaths globally. In late December 2019, in Wuhan, Hubei, China, a new respiratory syndrome emerged with clinical signs of viral pneumonia and person-to-person transmission. Tests showed the appearance of a novel coronavirus, namely the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Two other strains, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have caused severe respiratory illnesses, sometimes fatal. In particular, the mortality rate associated with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, was of 10% and 37% respectively. Even though COVID-19 appeared from the first time in China, quickly it spread worldwide and cases have been described in other countries such as Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, Iran, USA and many other countries. An early paper reported 41 patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection in Wuhan. The median age of the patients was 49 years and mostly men (73%). Among those, 32% were admitted to the ICU because of the severe hypoxemia. The most associated comorbidities were diabetes (20%), hypertension (15%), and cardiovascular diseases (15%). On admission, 98% of the patients had bilateral multiple lobular and sub-segmental areas of consolidation. Importantly, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) developed in 29% of the patients, while acute cardiac injury in 12%, and secondary infection in 10%. Invasive mechanical ventilation was required in 10% of those patients, and two of these patients (5%) had refractory hypoxemia and received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). In a later retrospective report by Wang and collaborators, clinical characteristics of 138 patients with COVID-19 infection were described. ICU admission was required in 26.1% of the patients for acute respiratory distress syndrome (61.1%), arrhythmia (44.4%), and shock (30.6%). ECMO support was needed in 11% of the patients admitted to the ICU. During the period of follow-up, overall mortality was 4.3%. The use of ECMO in COVID-19 infection is increasing due to the high transmission rate of the infection and the respiratory-related mortality. Therefore, the investigators believe that ECMO in case of severe interstitial pneumonia caused by COVID could represent a valid solution in order to avoid lung injuries related to prolonged treatment with non-invasive and invasive mechanical ventilation. In addition, ECMO could have a role for the systemic complications such as septic and cardiogenic shock as well myocarditis scenarios. Potential clinical effects and outcomes of the ECMO support in the novel coronavirus pandemic will be recorded and analyzed in our project. The researchers hypothesize that a significant percentage of patients with COVID-19 infection will require the utilize of ECMO for refactory hypoxemia, cardiogenic shock or septic shock. This study seeks to prove this hypothesis by conducting an observational retrospective/prospective study of patients in the ICU who underwent ECMO support and describe clinical features, severity of pulmonary dysfunction and risk factors of COVID-patients who need ECMO support, the incidence of ECMO use, ECMO technical characteristics, duration of ECMO, complications and outcomes of COVID-patients requiring ECMO support.
International guidelines recommend exercise as the first choice treatment for knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Muscle strengthening training (MST) and behavioural graded activity (BGA) show comparable effects on KOA pain, but the mechanisms of action are unclear. Understanding these mechanisms is necessary to tailor exercise therapy towards specific mediators and thereby optimize treatment effects. Based on previous studies, both exercise-induced anti-inflammation and endogenous analgesia are promising pathways for pain reduction after exercise therapy. This study aims to examine (anti)-inflammation and endogenous analgesia as mediators for the effect of MST and/or BGA on pain in patients with KOA. Therefore, a 3-arm randomized clinical trial is established: 12 weeks of muscle strengthening training, behavioural graded activity or control. Mediator analysis will be performed. Unravelling the mechanisms of action of exercise therapy in KOA will not only be extremely valuable for researchers, but also for exercise immunology and pain scientists. The results of this research will also find their way into clinical practice: thanks to the current project, tailoring exercise therapy programs towards specific mechanistic factors and thereby optimizing treatment effects will be at the horizon for patients suffering from KOA.
Solid organ transplantation is the treatment of choice for patients suffering from end-stage organ disease, including for chronic kidney failure. The implementation of effective immunosuppressive therapies has already significantly improved the prognosis for graft survival. However, these therapies are often associated with considerable inter- and intra-individual variability both in terms of response or in terms of pharmacokinetics. Innovative approaches must be considered, such as studying the involvement of intestinal microbiota in the pharmacology of these drugs. The general aim of the study is therefore to relate the variabilities observed in the pharmacology (mainly pharmacokinetics) of immunosuppressive drugs used in renal transplantation (tacrolimus and mycophenolate mofetil) and the composition of the intestinal microbiota of renal transplant patients.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the rate and anatomy of the aortic wall and leaflet calcification of the FS prosthesis implanted as full root in patients younger than 60 years compared to a stented bioprostheses (Perimount Magna Ease, PM). A 3D CT scan will be used to assess the calcification score and to determine the relationship between calcification and aortic valve leaflet.