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.
Severe Acquired Brain Injury (sABI), with a more or less prolonged state of coma, generally causes disruption of the physiological modes of swallowing and feeding and the physiological abilities of communication and phonation. There is broad agreement in the scientific literature for early intervention by the entire rehabilitation team. In the specific case of swallowing and phonatory function, speech therapist intervention is indicated with the goal of restoring the automatic and voluntary movements of the muscles involved in the performance of the previously mentioned functions. Speech-language treatment of buccal structures, sensation, motor and praxie is recommended in conjunction with other types of approaches (dietary modifications, compensation techniques, postural modifications). In the acute and early subacute phase of patients with sABI with a vigilance level of less than 4 according to the Levels of Cognitive Functioning scale, alterations in bucco-linguo-facial structures and swallowing can be observed that prevent the execution of a correct motor pattern of phonation and swallowing. For this reason, passive and/or active stimulation aimed at restoring sensitivity, strength, and movement coordination of the bucco-linguo-facial and laryngeal muscles is necessary to rehabilitate the prerequisites for the initiation of feeding, to restore adequate afferents, and to stimulate communication. A careful search of the literature shows that over the past decade many studies in the rehabilitation field have sought to understand the effects of local vibration therapy at various levels of the central nervous system and the possible benefits in neurorehabilitation. From a speech therapy perspective, there are only three studies on the area of dysphonia in cases of upper laryngeal nerve palsy, combining traditional treatment with the use of Novafon®, a sound wave medical device used for Local Vibrational Therapy. The results show greater improvements in vocal function and voice quality when classical treatment is combined with Local Vibrational Therapy. These studies conclude by affirming the need for further research with a larger sample size to analyze the potential effectiveness of Novafon® applied to the recovery of vocal cord paralysis.
In the follow-up of partecipants with Covid-19 infection, persistence of cardiovascular symptoms is common. Studies on the acute phase of Covid-19 infection have demonstrated a significant prevalence of acute myocardial damage (15-44%), and imaging studies have confirmed the presence of structural changes in the pericardium and myocardium several months after the acute phase. The aim of the project is to identify the prevalence and characteristics of long-term cardiovascular changes in Covid-19 infection.
As the cancer-related prognosis improves thanks to recent advances in cancer-targeted therapies, the prognostic burden of chemotherapy-related complications - including cardiotoxicity - is increasingly recognised. So far, the evidence supporting pharmacological preventive strategies in cardio-oncology has been inconsistent and conflicting, and there is a clear need for well-designed trials with novel interventions. In this study, by using cardiac magnetic resonance, the investigators want to assess if a commonly used beta-blocker with a unique pharmacological profile, i.e. nebivolol, can prevent cardiac dysfunction in patients with breast cancer or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma undergoing chemotherapy with anthracyclines.
Identifying the mechanism of non-cardiac syncope is the essential prerequisite for an effective personalized therapy. Aim of this multicentre, prospective, cross-sectional, observational study is to assess effectiveness and diagnostic yield of a two-step standardized assessment which consists of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) and of tilt-table Short Cardiovascular Autonomic Function Battery (SCAFB) which consists in carotid sinus massage (CSM), limited to patients ≥40-year-old, standing test, and head-up tilt test (HUT) performed one after the other in an uninterrupted sequence as a single procedure on a tilt table
Fatigue, which is commonly defined as a feeling of tiredness during or after usual activities, or a feeling of insufficient energy to initiate these activities, is one of the most common secondary conditions among patients presenting with stroke. Post Stroke Fatigue (PSF) is a multidimensional motor-perceptual, emotional, and cognitive experience characterized by a feeling of early exhaustion with tiredness, lack of energy, and difficulty making efforts, which develops during physical or mental activities, and usually does not improve with rest. To try to counteract fatigue and its effects on daily life activities, in addition to the known pharmacological approach (Modafinil), the use of vitamins and minerals is known to mitigate, among others, the effects of fatigue. Nutrients provide the energy needed to maintain the body's structural and biochemical integrity. Energy is associated with a feeling of well-being, increased stamina and vitality which often translates into the ability to undertake daily physical or cognitive activities and social relationships, as opposed to fatigue. A common feature of fatigue is a "sense of energy exhaustion" which can objectively be related to not enough energy. Physical and cognitive tiredness occurs when the continuous demand for energy from the brain and muscles is not met. In humans, dietary macronutrients provide the fuel needed, among other things, to perform physical activity. In fact, mineral salts and vitamins are essential for the production of cellular energy, for the maintenance of brain structures and for allowing the formation of intercellular connections. When the intake of vitamins and mineral salts is adequate, their biochemical properties translate into normal physiological functions; a lower intake of mineral salts and vitamins is associated with lethargy and physical and cognitive fatigue. However, few studies have evaluated the effect of vitamin and mineral supplementation for the management of physical and cognitive fatigue. SiderAL® Med is a food for Special Medical Purposes (AFMS), with a complete formulation that contains vitamins, sucrosomial minerals (Iron, Iodine, Magnesium, Zinc and Selenium), copper and algal calcium, with enhanced dosages to meet particular needs nutritional. AFMS are products formulated for the dietary management of patients with proven nutritional needs, for whom modifications to the normal diet are not sufficient. In some cases, these are subjects with limited, disturbed or altered ability to take, digest, absorb, metabolize or eliminate certain nutrients, in other cases, however, nutritional needs can be determined by specific clinical conditions. On the basis of scientific evidences, therefore, the aim of the study is to evaluate whether the nutritional supplement with SiderAL® Med improves the symptom of fatigue, motor and cognitive function in patients with stroke outcomes.
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic remitting and relapsing inflammatory bowel disease. The pathogenesis is multifactorial, involving genetic predisposition, epithelial barrier defects, dysregulated immune responses, and environmental factors. It is diagnosed through colonoscopy and histological evidence of mucosal inflammation involving predominantly the rectum and potentially extending continuously up to the proximal segments of the colon. The patients affected present with severe abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea together with extraintestinal manifestations such as peripheral arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum, erythema nodosum, ankylosing spondylitis and many others. The last 20 years have been profitable from the therapeutical point of view thanks to the advent of biological drugs which are derived from a living organism or its products including antibodies, interleukins and other molecules capable to target specific cellular pathways and to modulate different mechanisms such as blocking the actions of cytokines or white cells movement in the gut. More recently new promising alternatives seems to be the so-called small molecule drugs which are chemically derived low molecular weight compounds capable to enter the cell to regulate its functions and more generally biological processes like inflammation. In the last years, the therapeutic offer for ulcerative colitis patients has been enriched with the advent of biologics with different mechanism of action and very recently with the availability of the small molecules. Currently the available therapeutic options for ulcerative colitis include topic and systemic mesalazine, topic and systemic glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants (thiopurines), biological drugs (anti-tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), inhibitor of α4β7 integrin, anti-IL12-23) and small molecules (JAK inhibitors). However, if on the one hand the therapeutical enrichment has clearly improved the disease rate control, still there is the need to perform sequencing study to stratify the available options to provide the best and most appropriate patient-oriented management.
The role of prophylactic negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is promising in reducing wound-related complications. However, the prophylactic use of NPWT in reducing wound complications in patients who underwent conventional open harvesting of the great saphenous vein has been under-investigated compering with other surgical approaches. Therefore, this study aims to assess the effect size of the prophylactic NPWT in preventing wound dehiscence in high-risk patients who underwent conventional open harvesting of the great saphenous vein as a conduit for coronary artery bypass.
To further improve the outcome of ACS it is strongly needed to identify new therapeutic targets. This is possible only by improving our knowledge of the multiple molecular mechanisms leading to coronary instability through several pathways. The goal of this project is to define the molecular mechanisms responsible for the four different presentations of ACS, to identify biomarkers for their noninvasive identification and potential new therapeutic targets, thus promoting precision medicine.
This is a Phase 3, multicenter, open-label, randomized, parallel group, treatment study to assess the efficacy and safety of lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab compared with pembrolizumab alone in participants with untreated, unresectable or metastatic melanoma. Participants randomized to the pembrolizumab monotherapy arm who subsequently have a blinded independent central review- verified confirmed progressive disease (PD) will be offered lifileucel monotherapy in an optional crossover period.
The aim of our study is to examine the cryoimmunologic response and its mechanisms induced by US-guided cryoablation of small breast tumors (<2 cm) not eligible to neoadjuvant therapy. We will recruit 30 women who will undergo cryoablation and their results will be compared with a control group of 30 women, who will follow the same therapeutic pathway without performing cryoablation. All recruited patients will undergo an enrollment check, pre-cryoablation breast MRI and blood test to assess immune response, breast cancer US-guided cryoablation, post-cryoablation breast MRI and the same blood test to evaluate immunologic response. Within 21 days all patients will undergo breast surgery, with immuno-histopathological analysis on surgical specimen. At least 10 days after surgery the patient will undergo clinical breast examination, blood test to assess immune response and patient satisfaction questionnaire. Cryoablation treatment will be performed using a 14G cryoprobe under us-guidance for visualization of the ice ball surrounding the lesion. The ultrasound guide is used to ensure that the action affects the entire tumor and that therapeutic temperatures are reached in every part of the tumor. Pre- and post- cryoablation breast MRI will be performed on a 3T magnet to assess cryoablation rate of success. Artificial intelligence algorithms will also be used for this purpose. Cryoablation treatment efficacy will also be evaluated with ultrasound. The immunological fitness of cancer patients will be studied by flow cytometry, evaluating the presence of cytokines/chemokines relevant during anticancer immune response/tumor progression and for the presence of molecules released by cells during an immunogenic cell death. The goal of our study will be to demonstrate that cryoablation of breast cancer can induce an antitumor immune response. Therefore this approach could become an additional tool in the oncological treatment of breast cancer.