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 first objective (LOLA) of this integrated trial is to determine whether laparoscopic lavage leads to better clinical outcomes compared to sigmoidectomy in patients with perforated diverticulitis with purulent peritonitis in terms of mortality and major morbidity. The second objective (DIVA) is to determine whether sigmoidectomy with anastomosis or sigmoidectomy with end-colostomy is the superior approach in patients with perforated diverticulitis with either purulent or faecal peritonitis in terms of stoma free survival. The study is designed as a multicenter and randomised trial.
ICU patients do experience extubation failure. Guidelines rarely include muscle strength criteria. Prior work indicates that grip strength is a reliable surrogate for muscle strength. The purpose of the study is to assess the success rate of mechanical ventilation weaning based on the grip test.
The PRESTIGE-registry is a joint effort at 9 European heart centers to collect data regarding patients presenting with stent thrombosis in a dedicated database. There will be extensive clinical and procedural characterization, furthermore blood platelet function testing, intracoronary imaging, DNA-sampling and analysis of thrombus aspiration will be performed.
Rationale New chemotherapeutic agents are needed in relapsing B-Cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-CLL) to overcome resistance of CLL cells. Valproic acid (VPA) is an inhibitor of histone deacetylase (HDAC) used as an anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing drug for decades. VPA mediates apoptosis in CLL cells through caspase activation. VPA shows toxicity toward CLL cells displaying alterations in the p53 pathway. The combination of VPA with fludarabine or 2-Chlorodeoxyadenosine (CdA, Cladribine) results in synergistic loss of B-CLL cell viability, and significant increase in apoptosis. The highest index of synergism is observed between VPA and CdA, a purine nucleoside analog active in B-CLL. Study design Overall, the study will be proposed to previously treated patients with advanced B-CLL, who are not eligible for aggressive approaches, and who exhibit progressive disease. A total of 33 patients will be included. Estimated enrolment time is 2 years. - First part: It is planned to start therapy with single VPA during 2 months, targeting plasma levels that have been reported to be active in vitro toward CLL cells (but that do not exceed therapeutic levels in seizure prevention), and in parallel, to verify whether cellular targets of VPA have been actually inhibited in leukemic B-lymphocytes. - Second part: After the VPA preloading period (2 months), patients will be evaluated to receive CdA. CdA will be given at 5.6 mg/m²/day intravenously during 3 days, a reduced-dose schedule which is less toxic - at no obvious cost of loss of efficacy - as compared to the standard dosage of 5 days. CdA was chosen because it displays the highest level of in vitro synergism with VPA. Four monthly courses of CdA will be given. Patients will then be evaluated. VPA will be stopped at the time of response evaluation (scheduled 28 days after the last course of CdA).
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) represents one of the most challenging chronic diseases of the 21st century: it is expected to be the fourth leading cause of death by 2030. COPD is characterized by pulmonary and extra-pulmonary systemic manifestations caused by partly irreversible expiratory airflow obstruction. The cornerstone of COPD management is the prescription of single or combined inhalation therapy, such as short- and long-acting bronchodilators, inhaled corticosteroids to possibly prevent disease progression, preserve lung function, relieve respiratory symptoms and prevent or treat exacerbations. Given the complex and lifelong treatment, one can expect that adherence to the prescribed inhalation therapy is not self-evident. Adherence can be defined as the "the extent to which a person's behaviour (taking medications, following a recommended diet and/or executing life-style changes) corresponds with the agreed recommendations of a health care provider". Inhaled medications have an additional complexity in that patients who intend to be adherent may be take the inhaled medication incorrectly, prohibiting proper therapeutic action. Taking less than the prescribed amount of medication, missing doses or stopping treatment for brief or extended periods will put the patient at risk for suboptimal disease control. Hence, the effectiveness will largely depend on the patient's ability to manage their disease adequately in daily life. Using electronic monitoring, 3 studies in COPD found a prevalence of medication non-adherence of 51% which was worse than the average prevalence of 29% (range 3-66%) found across diseases such as hypertension, cancer, epilepsia, infections and HIV. The existing evidence on risk factors for nonadherence in COPD is mostly anecdotic and not guided by behavioral models. According to the integrated model of behavioral prediction (IMBP), barriers, skills and ability and intention are the most important drivers of adherence (i.e. medication adherence). The aims of the study are the following: - To prospectively investigate the impact of medication nonadherence on time to exacerbation (primary end-point) and exacerbation rate, FEV1, hospitalization rate and duration, and quality of life (secondary end-points) at 1 year follow-up using electronic monitoring - To investigate risk factors for medication nonadherence, using the Integrated Model of Behavioral Prediction as a theoretical framework - To determine the diagnostic accuracy of different measures of medication nonadherence (i.e. pill count, self-report and physician rating) relative to electronic monitoring. - To investigate the prevalence of nonadherence to other aspects of the therapeutic regimen, i.e. the use of concomitant medications, smoking cessation, alcohol use, physical activity, attendance to rehabilitation sessions and dietary adherence, their interrelations, and impact (alone and in combination) on time to first exacerbation. - To investigate the interrelations in adherence to the various components of the therapeutic regimen. - To investigate the impact of nonadherence to the other components of the therapeutic regimen (alone and in combination) on clinical outcomes (i.e. time to exacerbation, exacerbation rate/PPY, FEV1, hospitalization rate and duration, and quality of life at 1 year follow-up.
Prospective MR-imaging study : role of magnetic resonance (MR) and Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) MR in staging and therapy assessment in breast cancer patients with bone metastases.
The purpose of the Multi-National Gilenya Pregnancy Exposure Registry in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is to continuously monitor, evaluate, and assess for major and minor teratogenic effects in the offspring of women exposed to fingolimod before (up to 8 weeks before last menstrual period (LMP)) and during pregnancy in routine clinical practice. The overall aim is to collect and evaluate data on maternal, fetal, and infant outcomes and compare it with reference populations.
This study has the purpose to investigate the benefit of treating breast cancer patients in prone position. This treatment is compared to the standard technique in our center (supine position with or without respiratory gating). The investigators want to compare the doses on the organs at risk (heart and lungs) in the different techniques.
Metabolic acidosis is a common complication in incident renal transplant recipients. Protracted acidosis may be associated with osteoporosis, inflammation, negative protein balance and malnutrition, and last but not least may cause renal dysfunction. Preliminary data indicate an increased prevalence of nephrocalcinosis in renal transplant biopsies of incident patients presenting with metabolic acidosis. The present study aims (1)evaluate the prevalence and type of renal tubular acidosis (RTA) in incident renal transplant recipients and to identify clinical correlates and (2) to find associations between RTA, nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis
The purpose of the study is to describe and characterize CML in a large pediatric cohort of patients.