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.
The purpose of this prospective multicenter cohort study is to examine long-term medical outcomes, quality of life, and medical resource utilization in elderly patients (>= 65 years) with acute venous thromboembolism (i.e., acute pulmonary embolism and/or deep vein thrombosis)
There has been an increase in incidence in sexually transmitted infections in HIV infected patients in the last years. In this study the investigators will prospectively evaluate the prevalence of symptomatic and asymptomatic infections with N. gonorrhea and Ch. trachomatis as well as the seroprevalence of Herpes simplex Type 2 infection in HIV-infected patients attending the clinic for infectious diseases at the Berne University Hospital. In addition, participants will be asked to fill out a questionnaire on sexual behaviour and sexual health. Study hypothesis: STI prevalence is high in certain risk-groups to justify screening in regular intervals.
Background: An intact hypothalami-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis with an effective intracellular anti-inflammatory activity of glucocorticoids is indispensable for host survival during stress upon exposure to an infectious agent. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is characterized by significant mortality and increased circulating inflammatory cytokines. Despite adequate antimicrobial therapy mortality rates for CAP have not changed over several decades. The use of corticosteroids in patients with CAP is inconclusive. Study aim: To compare a 7 days treatment with prednisone and placebo in patients with community-acquired pneumonia with respect to time to clinical stability. Study hypothesis: The investigators hypothesize that use of corticosteroids will lead to a 25% relative risk reduction for death and clinical instability. Study type: randomized double blind intervention study Patients: 800 patients with community-acquired pneumonia
This present study, randomized, single-blind, dose-ranging, multicenter study, will evaluate immunogenicity, safety and tolerability of two doses of an adjuvanted and not-adjuvanted new swine-origin influenza A/H1N1 virus monovalent subunit vaccine in healthy adult and elderly subjects. A booster dose will be administered 12 months after the first vaccination.
1. Introduction Paracetamol, an analgesic prescribed daily, has been in use for more than 50 years. Surprisingly, its mode of action is still unclear. One postulated mechanism is the reinforcement of descending inhibitory pathways. A recent publication in a human pain model raises the question of whether or not Paracetamol acts according to a central serotonergic mechanism. Unfortunately, the chosen model was unable to differentiate between overall pain, secondary hyperalgesia and allodynia. In particular, secondary hyperalgesia and allodynia are central effects. The planned study will examine the central analgesic effects of paracetamol on allodynia and hyperalgesia by blocking the central effect by adding tropisetron. It will be based on an internationally accepted model for the initiation of secondary hyperalgesia, which was developed and tested by colleagues in Erlangen. 2. Study work plan This prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, cross-over trial in 16 male volunteers will address pain ratings and the area of secondary hyperalgesia/allodynia in a human model of electrically evoked pain and compare four different treatment scenarios: - Paracetamol 1 g; - Paracetamol, 1 g and Tropisetron 5 mg; - Tropisetron, 5 mg; and - Saline. Each volunteer will be allocated to each scenario in a cross-over fashion. Four separate treatment trials, at least two weeks apart, will be performed. Each volunteer will be familiarized with the stimulation procedure prior to participation. 3. Ethical considerations Informed consent will be obtained from each volunteer. In addition, each volunteer will receive remuneration after participating in the study. Paracetamol is considered to be a very safe drug in healthy patients. Tropisetron, another safe medication, is routinely used in anaesthetic practice as an antiemetic drug. Headache, flush and liver parameter elevation are very rare side effects of minor importance in our daily clinical work as anaesthetists. This pain provoking procedure was developed at the University Erlangen Germany. It is a standardized method and has repeatedly received approval by research ethics committees internationally. Furthermore, the investigators applied this model to a recent study in Basel (cf your decision "study protocol 330/07;" unpublished data, analysis and writing in progress). 4. Patient number and timetable The investigators will examine 16 volunteers and expect the experimental component to last 3 months. The investigators plan to complete this study within one year. 5. Study importance The mode of action of paracetamol remains unclear. The investigators think that this study will enable them to answer important questions concerning the action of paracetamol. The investigators hope that further understanding of this regularly prescribed drug will help us to better understand the complex mechanisms of pain.
This present study, randomized, single-blind, dose-ranging, multicenter study, will evaluate immunogenicity, safety and tolerability of two doses of an adjuvanted and not-adjuvanted new swine-origin influenza A/H1N1 virus monovalent subunit vaccine in healthy adult and elderly subjects. A booster dose will be administered 12 months after the first vaccination.
For surgery in the region of the lower abdominal wall the administration of local anesthetic drugs in the epidural space via the caudal route is the preferentially used technique since several decades. The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block features the advantages of a peripheral nerve blockade. The aim of this study is to evaluate potential differences in the effectiveness of postoperative analgesia and to test the hypotheses that the duration of pain relieve ist prolonged after a TAP block when compared with an epidural technique.
Most studies performing hyperthermic intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy dose the cytotoxic drugs according to the body surface (like 50 mg/m² cisplatin) in analogy to systemic, intravenous chemotherapy (usually using the same dose). Although there seems to be a correlation between body surface and blood volume, the pharmacodynamics of drugs dosed by the body surface is still highly variable and thus dosing on the body surface is increasingly considered controversial for systemic administration. For hyperthermic intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy dosing by the body surface makes even less sense, since the aim is the highest possible drug concentration in the peritoneum without undue local and systemic toxicity. Furthermore, most studies using intraoperative chemotherapy vary the volume of the perfusate according to the size of the patient. Since the amount of cytotoxic drug is already fixed by the dosing on the body surface (amount [mg] = dose [mg/m²] x body surface [m²]) the effective concentration (mg/l) in the perfusate can vary considerably between patients. On the other hand pharmacokinetic analyses have shown that reducing the concentration of the cytotoxic drug in the perfusate reduces the efficacy even if the amount of the drug remains the same. In this study the safety of a new dosing regime will be evaluated. The concentration of cisplatin in the perfusate will be held constant independent of body weight or size to achieve the highest effectiveness of the chemotherapy. The primary endpoint is the safety of the treatment. All patients should be able to receive full dose systemic carboplatin chemotherapy after completion the trial treatment.
The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of a project promoting unstructured spontaneous physical activity (PA) through an adaptation of the built environment and the provision of a supportive social environment of childcare centers on motor skills, physical activity, desire to move around, body mass index (BMI), quality of life and PA and behavior of the family.
The main objective of this study is to verify whether a new clinical decision rule identifying patients diagnosed with unprovoked blood clots who have a low risk of recurrence can safely stop oral anticoagulant therapy after 5-7 months of treatment.