There are about 21062 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Italy. 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.
Benign esophageal strictures are frequently seen in endoscopic practice and are caused by a variety of esophageal disorders, including peptic, radiotherapy-induced and caustic injuries, Schatzki ring, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), and strictures after surgical resection (anastomotic) or endoscopic resection (endoscopic mucosal resection-EMR- and endoscopic submucosal dissection-ESD), and ablative therapies (Radiofrequency, Cryotherapy and Argon-plasma coagulation). Endoscopic dilation is the first treatment step for benign esophageal strictures. Two types of dilators are available, namely, through-the-scope balloon dilators, with or without a guidewire, and wire-guided bougie dilators. Bougie dilators are used for simple strictures and for strictures in the proximal esophagus, especially anastomotic strictures. Bougie dilators exert a combined radial and longitudinal force, which may increase the risk of perforation. Bougie dilators allow, however, sensing the degree of resistance during dilation, and thereby help determining increasing bougie sizes during next-step dilations. Through the-scope balloon dilators are preferred for complex strictures. Balloons dilators allow direct visualization and control of the radially applied dilation force. In literature, both dilation techniques appear to be equally effective and safe in the management of esophageal strictures, showing no differences in terms of risks of AEs About 30 years ago, the "rule of three" has been published. This rule dictated the extent of dilation during any endoscopic session (i.e., no more than three dilators successively larger than the first dilator to meet resistance were passed) and has been used by endoscopists to reduce the risk of perforation. However, the safety of the "rule of three" has never been demonstrated. Moreover, a recent study suggests that more than three dilation steps per session may be considered for esophageal strictures, with the exception of malignant strictures. The EsoFLIP (Medtronic Inc., Shoreview, MN, USA) is a novel dilation balloon that provides real-time, objective visualization and monitoring of therapeutic dilation. EsoFLIP utilizes high-resolution impedance planimetry to provide real-time measurements (diameter and cross-sectional area) of the stenotic area before, during, and at the end of the dilation without the need of fluoroscopy. In 2013, technical feasibility and safety of the EsoFLIP in esophago-gastric junction (EGJ) dilation have been demonstrated on porcine models. In a small first pilot study, the technical feasibility of the EsoFLIP device in 10 patients with achalasia has been demonstrated. A second study reported short-term efficacy, both objective (improvement in barium column) and subjective (improvement in Eckardt score), in 28 patients managed using the FLIP hydraulic balloon dilator. Very limited data are currently available in the literature on the use of EsoFLIP in benign esophageal strictures dilation. Potential advantages of the use of EsoFLIP are dilation without fluoroscopy and associated radiation, control of dilation sizes to generate the desired dilation effect and assessment of stricture size and the response to dilatation immediately following dilation. In a small single centre retrospective study on 19 paediatric patients, use of EsoFLIP hydraulic dilation was safe and provided a larger diameter increase compared with standard balloon dilation, but this was not statistically significant likely because of the small cohort size. The study also suggested that procedure time and fluoroscopy time were shorter in the EsoFLIP cases when compared to other traditional dilation methods. Esophageal dilation using EsoFLIP may yield a larger diameter change increasing the interval between a dilatation procedure and the following one and may potentially reduce procedure time when compared to traditional balloon dilation. There is currently no published prospective study about dilation with EsoFLIP in adult patients affected by benign esophageal strictures. The endoluminal functional lumen imaging probe, EndoFLIP™ (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA) (FLIP), is a tool that utilizes impedance planimetry, a technique for performing balloon distention in the alimentary track, to obtain dynamic measurements of any sphincters including the diameter, cross-sectional area (CSA), and distensibility index (DI). Diseases where Endo-FLIP has been employed include esophageal stenosis, reflux esophagitis, eosinophilic esophagitis, gastroparesis, anal sphincter disease, achalasia, and it has also been used in peroral endoscopic myotomy.
The goal of the PROPH-ITA Study is to perform genetic testing in family members of pancreatic cancer patients who may have a genetic predisposition. The subjects belong to the Italian Registry of Families At Risk of Pancreatic Cancer (IRFARPC, #NCT04095195). This investigational study will assess the genetic background of subjects with familiarity with pancreatic cancer only. Participants may accept to undergo genetic testing as part of the IRFARPC registry, through a saliva-swab-based 41-gene panel test. Up to 3,000 participants will be enrolled in this study.
This is a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, triple blind, phase II study to determine the efficacy and safety of xevinapant with radiotherapy in older patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-HNSCC) of oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx. Upon confirmation of eligibility, subjects will be enrolled and randomized in a 1:1 ratio to: - Arm A: 3 cycles of xevinapant (200 mg/day from Day 1 to 14, per cycle) + intensive modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) followed by 3 cycles of xevinapant in monotherapy phase (200 mg/day from Day 1 to 14, per cycle) - Arm B: 3 cycles of placebo (from Day 1 to 14, per cycle) + IMRT followed by 3 cycles of placebo in monotherapy phase (from Day 1 to 14, per cycle). Patients will be stratified by institution, disease location/p16 status (p16 positive oropharyngeal cancer, versus others), G8 score. Three strata for the G8 will be used (>14, versus 11-14 versus <11). Patients will undergo imaging in week 20 and upon clinical suspicion of progression/recurrence. Clinical examination will take place every 12 weeks in the first 3 years.
The purpose of this study is to investigate dostarlimab monotherapy in participants with locally advanced Mismatch-repair deficient (dMMR)/Microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) rectal cancer who have received no prior treatment. Participants who achieve complete clinical response (cCR) following dostarlimab treatment will undergo non-operative management (NOM), including close surveillance for recurrent disease. The goal of the study is to determine if Dostarlimab therapy alone is an effective treatment that can allow participants to avoid chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) represents the gold standard for treatment of elective and acute of gallbladder diseases, such as acute cholecystitis (AC). However, in elderly patients or in those with severe comorbidities, urgent LC can be associated with increase morbidity (up to 41%) and mortality (up to 19%). In these patients, placement of a percutaneous gallbladder drainage catheter (PT-GBD) or colecistostomy can be utilized to drain the gallbladder until infection is resolved, as a bridge to subsequent surgery or as definitive treatment. PT-GBD, however, is associated with major adverse events (AEs): intra-hepatic hemorrhage, pneumothorax, biliary peritonitis, bile leak from the site of drainage, AC recurrency, self-removal of the drainage by the patient e/o for spontaneous migration. Recently, to overcome PT-GBD limitations, EUS-guided gallbladder drainage (EUS-GBD) has been introduced as an alternative minimally invasive therapeutic intervention for treatment of patients with high surgical risk who present with AC. The procedure has high technical and clinical success rates and favorable safety profile, with low risk of recurrent AC. EUS-GBD, followed, when needed, by intra-cholecystic endoscopic interventions has been utilized even in relatively young patients as recently reported with successful intra-cholecystic giant stones clearance through the LAMS using previously described endoscopic lithotripsy in patients who rejected surgery and desired gallbladder preservation. A second category of patients who might benefit from EEGBT are elderly individuals with major comorbidities posing them at high surgical risk, who suffer from previous episodes of cholecystitis, recurrent colic episodes due to gallbladder stones, or with biliary acute pancreatitis due to stones migration. Based on all the above considerations, we have designed a prospective, pilot study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of elective EEGBT performed using LAMS stent with electrocautery-enhanced delivery system, followed by intra-cholecystic endoscopic interventions when needed in elderly patients with benign gallbladder diseases at high surgical risk, in whom an indication to perform cholecystectomy was indicated.
This is a multicentric, prospective, observational study with two cohorts and adjunctive procedure. It aims at collecting and analyzing data about the function of an innovative hospital-territory integration health service for the management of patients with intermediate urgency, or emergency department "white codes." This service, activated in the participating centers, will be provided in two alternative modalities, one so-called "dual specialty" (cardiology and diabetes specialist outpatient clinic) and a second one more focused on the figure of the specialist in Internal Medicine. The investigators will monitor the population treated in these centers (presenting complaint, medical history, clinical-radiological data, performed therapies and overall health path) and the degree of satisfaction of the General Practitioners who sent their patients there and the degree of satisfaction of the patients themselves. The data collected will also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the outpatient clinics in terms of reducing improper admissions to the Emergency Departments and hospitalizations. The two modes of service delivery will be compared. This is an 18-month study, sponsored by our Scientific Directorate and carried out on a nonprofit basis. The study will enroll 246 patients and 30 healthy volunteer General Practitioners. The clinical trial will be conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practice standards.
The circulation of the Hepatitis D Virus (HDV) has considerably diminished in Italy, secondary to the control of the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) with vaccination; this has led to the perception that HDV is vanishing and has reduced attention to the diagnosis of Hepatitis D. However, migratory fluxes from HDV endemic areas, fostered by labour-forces globalization, are increasingly reconstituting the reservoir of HDV in the country and hepatitis D has not yet vanished in native Italians but will remain an important medical issue for several years to come. As the epidemiologic and clinical features of HDV infection in migrant communities are largely unknown and the features of native Italians with long standing HDV infections have not been updated, this project intends to establish the contemporary epidemiological and medical context of HDV in immigrants in Italy and to determine the clinical characteristics and needs of the residual cohort of native HDV Italians, through the analysis of all HDV cases recruited in 12 months in a coordinated network of 35 Italian medical centers. The data will provide an appraisal of the burden of hepatitis D in the country and of its impact on the National Health System. They will present the paradigm of the current trend of HDV infection in high-income countries in the world.
Peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer is difficult to be detected in time, thus delaying treatment. Based on the conventional CT images of gastric cancer, this study plans to develop, improve and validate an intelligent analysis system based on radiomics. By extracting and combining the radiomics features related to peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer, the intelligent analysis system could predict the risk of peritoneal metastasis, and provide personalized decision suggestions for the treatment of gastric cancer.
Crohn's disease (CD) is a life-long chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any site of the gastrointestinal tract, most frequently the ileum and colon. It is characterized by transmural inflammation and it can lead to strictures, due to activation of reparation of inflamed tissues and consequent fibrosis, or penetrating lesions, such as fistulas, between two different intestinal tracts or between intestine and surrounding organs. Fistula occurrence can lead to formation of abdominal or pelvic abscesses. Such complications cause intestinal damage and usually require surgery, leading to disability, impairment of patients' quality of life, with significant impact on direct and indirect health-care costs
Arrhythmic storm is a real emergency and its treatment could be challenging. Antiarrhythmic drugs are few and often ineffective. Neuromodulation has been grown in evidences but no large multicentric studies are present in literature about safety and effectiveness of Percutaneous Stellate Ganglion Block (PSGB). Patients with an electrical storm refractory to at least one antiarrhythmic drug will receive PSGB and will be enrolled in the present study. The number of defibrillations before and after the treatment will be compared, complications will be annotated.