There are about 3753 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Hong Kong. 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.
Intranasal dexmedetomidine has been studied and used in children for premedication before anaesthesia or fro sedation. It can be administered by simple dripping or by Mucosal Atomization Device (MAD®). Since MAD® delivers intranasal medication in a fine mist, it is possible that absorption and bioavailability would be better compares to simple dripping method. To date no pharmacokinetic information of intranasal dexmedetomidine delivered by either method is available. This investigation is designed to compare the bioavailablity of intranasal dexmedetomidine deliver via simple dipping with tuberculine syringe and MAD® in healthy adults.
The prevention of perioperative atrial fibrillation (AF) and myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS) has the potential to reduce mortality, stroke, and hospital stays in patients undergoing major thoracic surgery. Data from cardiac surgery patients suggest that prevention of perioperative atrial fibrillation using an anti-inflammatory agent, such as colchicine, is feasible. The COP-AF trial will assess whether the administration of oral colchicine will reduce the incidence of perioperative atrial fibrillation and myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery in patients undergoing major thoracic surgery.
During the course of chronic hepatitis B infection, patients may undergo hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance, resulting in undetectable circulating HBsAg. With the advance of sensitive nucleic acid detection techniques, HBsAg-negative subjects with detectable HBV DNA in sera or liver tissues can be identified. Patients who have undetectable HBsAg and yet detectable HBV DNA in sera or liver tissues are defined as having occult HBV infection (OBI). OBI as a cause of liver disease in HBsAg-negative patients remains clinically important [1,2]. Studies conducted by our research group had demonstrated that patients with HBsAg seroclearance could still develop flare of hepatitis B, advanced liver diseases and HCC [3-6]. Prevention of these complications in OBI patients by conventional intramuscular hepatitis B vaccination (HBVv) remains elusive with poor amnestic anti-HBs response [7]. The objective of this prospective double-blind randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the effect and safety of topical treatment with imiquimod immediately before intradermal vaccination with Sci-B-Vac™ in patients with OBI. Our a priori hypothesis is that imiquimod pretreatment would improve immune responses to Sci-B-Vac™ further in OBI patients, resulting in HBsAb conversion. Thereby preventing subsequent complications including flare of hepatitis, cirrhosis and HCC in these patients.
This study intends to investigate the changes in gait pattern in adult spinal deformity (ASD) patients with sagittal imbalance. It will investigate the gait kinematics in patients who have a mismatch of their spinopelvic parameters, and a positive sagittal balance. The investigators hypothesise that patients with abnormal spinopelvic parameters may demonstrate a pathological gait pattern.
This study aims to quantify the clumsiness and decreased dexterity seen in the grip and release test using a simple glove with sensors that can quantify the abnormal motion of this classical sign. This new tool will give a mechanistic insight into the myelopathy. The findings of this study will also form the basis of a prospective longitudinal study with clinical and radiological evaluation to compare the prognosticating value of this new information in clinical practice.
Endometriosis and adenomyosis can impact on the quality of life including the physical, psychological and social aspects. It is important to include quality of life measurements in evaluating the disease severity and response to any given treatment. The 30-item Endometriosis Health Profile (EHP-30), derived from in-depth interviews of patients with endometriosis, is currently the most reliable questionnaire for health-related quality of life measurement in women with endometriosis. It includes specific questions addressing the problems faced by patients with endometriosis. Unfortunately, this widely accepted tool does not have a traditional Chinese version for the measurement of health-related quality of life of endometriosis in Hong Kong. Furthermore, adenomyosis and endometriosis share similar histological and clinical symptomatology, but application of EHP-30 to adenomyosis has never been studied. The aims of the present study are to translate the EHP-30 English version into traditional Chinese version and to evaluate its psychometric properties in endometriosis and adenomyosis. The hypothesis of this study is that EHP-30 (Hong Kong) traditional Chinese questionnaire has high internal consistency, construct validity, reproducibility as the original English version and can be applicable to Hong Kong Chinese women with endometriosis and adenomyosis.
Background: There is epidemiological evidence or link ambient air pollution exposure to the incidence of dementia. Aims or hypotheses: It is hypothesized that reduction in indoor pollutants from air purification improves endothelial function and carotid intima thickness in older diabetic people with cognitive impairment. Subjects and method: People with clinically diagnosis mild cognitive impairment or early dementia will be recruited. After obtaining written consent, the subjects will be assessed cognitive function and arterial health. After baseline measurements, the subjects are randomly assigned to have either filter or no filter installed in the air purifier. The air purifier will be placed in living room of the household of the subject for one year. At one year, the measurements will be repeated. Statistical analysis: Intention to treat analysis will be adopted.
Hypertension (HT) is an important risk factor for stroke, coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure and renal diseases, and the leading risk factor of global disease burden. A multitude of interventions have proven efficacy in lowering blood pressure and reducing long term HT complications, including pharmacologic treatment, DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), exercise, weight reduction, smoking cessation, alcohol moderation and self-monitoring of blood pressure. Objectives: To evaluate long-term effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Risk-Assessment-and-Management-Programme-for-Hypertension (RAMP-HT), a multi-disciplinary structured service to enhance quality of hypertension care in primary care compared to usual care Hypotheses: 1. RAMP-HT is effective in reducing HT complications, based on previous results showing RAMP-HT was effective in improving patients' blood pressure 2. RAMP-HT is cost-effective Design and Subjects: Retrospective study of 5-year longitudinal data on matched cohorts of public primary care patients with uncontrolled HT under RAMP-HT and usual care will be conducted to evaluate long-term effectiveness and direct medical costs. Results from the long-term effectiveness and costing analyses will be applied to Markov modeling to determine the life time cost-effectiveness of RAMP-HT. Main outcome measures: 1. 5-year incidence of cardiovascular complications 2. Direct medical costs of RAMP-HT and usual care HT patients 3. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained by RAMP-HT compared to usual care Data analysis: Cox regression will be performed to estimate the effect of RAMP-HT on the development of HT complication adjusted for baseline covariates. Descriptive statistics will be used to calculate costs of RAMP-HT and annual direct medical costs for HT patients. Markov modeling will be used to simulate 2 patient cohorts (RAMP-HT versus usual care) to estimate the respective lifetime direct medical costs and QALY gained/person. Cost/QALY of RAMP-HT will be compared to that of usual care to determine the ICER. Expected results: The results can provide evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of RAMP-HT for primary care patients with uncontrolled HT, which can inform health policy and service planning.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether a 20- herb formulation, as a well characterised extract, is efficacious in treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and also to identify efficacious and safe dosage of the formulation in treating IBS.
Post-operative visual loss is a rare but serious complication after surgery. It is most significantly correlated with prone spinal surgery with a prolonged duration. The cause and risk factors are not elucidated, but the majority of the cases are due posterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (PION). This entity is directly related to the ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), which is estimated as the difference between mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and intraocular pressure (IOP). Autoregulation is believed to maintain a constant perfusion to the optic nerve despite fluctuations in the perfusion pressure. IOP is known to increase in the prone position thus putting susceptible patients at risk for inadequate ocular nerve perfusion. Most of the evidence comes from animal and healthy volunteer studies and cannot give an accurate insight into the subtle changes of intra-operative IOP. All the published studies employed the use of a tonometer, which may have rooms for measurement errors due to inadvertent pressure on the globe while retracting the eyelids, particularly when there is significant periorbital/conjunctival swelling in the prone position. The majority of the studies recruited healthy volunteers in a simulated surgical setting so other fluctuating parameters, which can affect intraoperative IOP, cannot be measured. In the few reports where patients undergoing surgery in the prone position were studies, IOP measurements were taken at non-continuous monitoring at time intervals, thus the effects of changes in blood volume, MAP, central venous pressure (CVP) and PaCO 2 could not be studied. Lastly, all the literature consists of case series only with no control group so the effect of position cannot be evaluated independently of the other factors. The investigators therefore propose to conduct a prospective study with continuous intraoperative IOP monitoring to give us further insight into the physiological changes of IOP in patients undergoing spine surgery, and identify the risk factors related to fluctuations of IOP during prone spinal surgery.