There are about 9403 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Switzerland. 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.
Diagnosis of pneumonia in the elderly is difficult because of the poor sensitivity and specificity of clinical signs as well as images from chest radiography (RT). New diagnostic tools such as thoracic low-dose computed tomography (CT), which exposes the patient to a weak dose of irradiation, could improve diagnosis. Moreover, low-dose CT could provide additional accuracy in the etiological clarification of pneumonia in elderly people. As a first step, the investigators aim to perform a 1 year (12 months of inclusion + 3 months of follow-up) prospective study including the Divisions of Internal Medicine, Rehabilitation, Geriatrics and Radiology of the University Hospitals of Geneva. In this study, patients >65 years old with a clinical suspicion of low respiratory tract infection (LRTI) will be included. They will be prescribed antimicrobial therapy. Both chest radiography and low-dose thoracic CT will be performed within the first 72 hours after admission, as will blood tests and a nasopharyngeal swab. The clinician's diagnosis, both before and after the results of the CT, will be compared at the end of the study to the adjudication committee's diagnostic opinion which will have access to all available clinical, laboratory and chest X-ray data and which will be considered the gold standard. At the end of the study, all the CT images will be blind-reviewed by two experts in radiology. The impact of CT scanning in the diagnosis of pneumonia will be assessed, both for its sensitivity and specificity in this population. During the first 12 months of the study, all patients will undergo a systematic nasopharyngeal swab at admission and at discharge, from which eluates will be conserved. During the next 12 months, virological and bacteriological polymerase chain reactions (PCR) will be performed, using new diagnostic tools, in order to determine the etiological diagnosis in this population and to evaluate the impact of the new tools in the management of pneumonia for this population. Analysis of these data will allow clinical, radiological and microbiological correlation.
Attention can be defined as the preparedness to rapidly and accurately respond to stimuli coming from the investigators environment and to effectively select between relevant and irrelevant information. According to a current model, visual attentional control is based on two separate groups of brain regions, so called brain networks. These networks control different attentional aspects (e.g., spatial/non-spatial attention) and they interact with each other. A disruption of these interactions can lead to attentional disorders such as hemispatial neglect. Patients with hemispatial neglect have difficulties directing their attention to the left visual field and they act as though the latter does not exist. To date, the interactions between the two attentional networks are poorly understood. The aim of this study consists in further clarifying different aspects of these interactions and their influence on visual perception in healthy participants and in patients with hemispatial neglect. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be the principal method applied in this study. TMS is a painless and non-invasive method, with which the activity of brain areas can be influenced temporarily. This allows us to draw conclusions regarding the functions and interactions of these brain areas. This study is designed to have a significant impact on the basic understanding of attentional control in the human brain and it can benefit the comprehension and treatment of attentional disorders, such as hemispatial neglect.
The purpose of this study is to obtain outcomes data on the Anatomical Shoulder™ Inverse/Reverse System by analysis of standard scoring systems and radiographs. Outcome data will be collected using the following standard scoring systems of which summary statistics will be provided: - Constant and Murley Score to evaluate clinical parameters such as range of motion, power, level of pain and functional ability. - SF-12 Physical and Mental Health Summary Measures (SF12 Questionnaire) comprising of twelve questions to assess the subject's physical and mental health status which must be answered by the patient.
The purpose of this study is to obtain outcomes data on the Anatomical Shoulder Fracture System by analysis of standard scoring systems and radiographs. Outcome data will be collected using the following standard scoring systems: - Constant and Murley Score - Oxford Shoulder Score - EQ-5D (EuroQol)
The investigators propose tomosynthesis as a imaging method in between of x-ray and CT. The expected value of this project is the definition of proven indications for tomosynthesis, which allow replacing CT. Specific goals are the early detection of pulmonary consolidations / parenchymal changes as well as the monitoring of patients with ostesynthetic implants.
The aim of this study is to develop a reliable and valid instrument to measure symptom management (experience and / or management strategies) during exacerbation episodes in CF patients. For the development a sequential exploratory two phase mixed-method study will be applied. In a first step, up to 25 CF patients will be interviewed: approximately 15 CF patients who experienced at least one episode of exacerbation in the past year and approximately CF 10 patients who are currently experiencing an exacerbation. The latter group will be interviewed up to 3 times during and after the antibiotic treatment. The instruments initial item list will be developed on basis of the interviews. Up to five health professionals will rate the items' relevance. In a further step, items' clarity and relevance will be assessed by cognitive debriefing interviews with no more than 10 patients. In the last step (part III), the instrument's preliminary construct and concurrent validity and reliability will be tested in a larger sample up to 150 patients experiencing exacerbation. Patients will be asked to complete the newly developed questionnaires and a set of other questionnaires at one time point. For part III, ethic approval will be asked at a later date (2015).
The purpose of this study is to investigate which clinical colour vision assessment fits best for preschool children and school children. The investigators are going to investigate children with a known colour vision affecting ocular disease, as well as healthy children without colour vision deficiency. The goal is to compare the usability and validity of three different clinical tests for colour vision assessment which are already well established in adults but not yet in children.
Food provision and consumption were assessed for all hospitalized patients over a 24h-period survey. This study is a part of a control quality programme and is performed every 4 years since 1999.
This study aims to evaluate the psychosocial situation of adult congenital heart disease (CHD) patients in terms of health-related quality of life, mental health, academic achievement, and employment status. By assessing a wide variety of medical (e.g., disease severity) and psychosocial (e.g., life events, coping strategies, personality) risk factors it will be possible to better understand the variables that influence psychosocial outcome of young adults with congenital heart disease. This will further improve the understanding of the lifelong consequences of a congenital heart malformation. Factors that proof to be predictors of favorable outcome represent a resource of resilience and therefore should play an important role in the care of CHD patients. By implementing those results in patient care the investigators aim to achieve an improved psychosocial outcome among adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). Hypothesis 1: It is expected that perceived health status, health-related quality of life and psychological adjustment will not differ between the patient and the control group. However, academic achievement and employment status are expected to be poorer in young adults with congenital heart disease compared to healthy controls. Hypothesis 2: It is assumed that parental socioeconomic status, problems in emotional regulation and impaired social support will be related to a negative psychosocial outcome and health-related quality of life. Moreover, the investigators hypothesize that disease severity is associated with academic outcome and employment status.
This is a safety and efficacy study of abicipar pegol in participants with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.