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.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and its prevalence is expected to double over the next 30 years, making it a leading cause of neurological disability [GBD 2016 Neurology Collaborators, 2019; Dorsey et al, 2018]. PD is characterized by motor symptoms, such as muscle stiffness, tremor, slowness of movement (bradykinesia) and postural instability, and non-motor symptoms, such as sphincter disorders, postural hypotension, cognitive disorders, depression, hyposmia, constipation and REM sleep behavioral disturbance. Unfortunately, the mechanisms leading to neuronal dysfunction and death in PD remain poorly known and there are currently no therapies capable of modifying their course [Bloem et al, 2021]. In this study we aim at defining a new set of biomarkers based on the combination between PET, blood metabolomics and natural language extracted from the keywords of electronic health records.
Behçet's disease (BD) is an autoimmune, rare, and severe multisystemic inflammatory disease characterized by recurrent oral aphthous ulcers, genital ulcers, skin lesions, and both anterior and posterior uveitis; articular, vascular, gastroenteric and neurological involvement may also occur. The multi-organ involvement and the wide range of clinical spectrum make the diagnosis of BD challenging. Adherence has been defined as the "extent to which a person's behavior (in terms of taking medications, following diets, or executing other lifestyle changes) corresponds with agreed recommendations from a health care provider". The lack of medication adherence leads to poorer health outcomes for the patients, which affect quality of life, generate economic loss for the healthcare system and trigger uncertainty for the healthcare prescribers in dealing with the disease treatment. This challenge is particularly important in BD. The present study is therefore aimed at exploring the main reasons for low- or non-adherence to treatments in BD and to create a specific tool able to catch and monitor the reasons for low- or non-adherence in BD over time. Objectives - to explore the unmet needs in treatment adherence - to create a toll aimed at identifying and monitoring the reasons of low treatment adherence - to plan specific actions aimed at improving treatment adherence in BD
The investigators aim to assess the effects of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on diaphragmatic activity evaluated through ultrasound in patients admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) for acute respiratory failure (ARF) assisted via invasive mechanical ventilation in assisted mode.
Within the AGAVE project (2010-2014), funded by the 2008 AIFA (Italian Medicines Agency) Call (contract No. FARM8YRYZC), a severe/uncontrolled asthma online Registry (RItA) was implemented to assess the appropriateness of therapeutic strategies for severe/uncontrolled asthma patients, according to GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) guidelines, in epidemiological and clinical samples. The online RItA Registry is a database containing information on patients' general characteristics, medical history, clinical data, risk factors, comorbidity, asthma exacerbations, current asthma treatment. Currently, it contains information on severe/uncontrolled asthma subjects, enrolled at national level, performing baseline (n tot=1018) and follow-up interviews (n tot=402). Aim of the RISER study is to increase knowledge about the risk factors, diagnosis, and management of severe/uncontrolled asthma in general population and clinical setting through the update and follow-up of the RItA registry. The RISER study is an observational longitudinal study involving a clinical setting and an epidemiological one. The field survey will comprise one or two follow-ups according to the sample. 1. Observational longitudinal study in hospital specialist centres (clinical sample). Clinical cases of severe/uncontrolled asthma already included in the online RItA Registry and new clinical cases of severe/uncontrolled asthma attending the clinical centres and not yet included in the online RItA Registry, will be investigated at T0, T6 and T12 through a clinical form in order to collect information in accordance with the online RItA registry, and routine clinical/functional tests of asthma control. 2. Observational longitudinal study in a general population sample (epidemiological sample). Epidemiological cases of severe/uncontrolled asthma from Pisa cohort already inserted in the online RItA Registry and new epidemiological cases of severe/uncontrolled asthma from pre-existing Pisa cohort not yet included in the online RItA Registry will be investigated at T0 and T12 through a questionnaire to collect information for feeding the online RItA registry. Subjects fitting the epidemiological definition of severe/uncontrolled asthma will be invited at the Pisa clinical centre to have routine clinical/functional tests. All data collected from clinical/epidemiological centres will be included in the RItA registry. Overall, it is expected to enroll 422 patients.
This prospective, single centre, 8 weeks, open-label study is designed to evaluate in real-life the effect of triple Beclometasone/Formoterol/Glycopyrronium (BDP/F/G) therapy on cough efficacy, assessed by cough peak flow (CPF), after 8 weeks' treatment in patients with moderate to severe COPD. The study's hypothesis is that in symptomatic moderate to severe COPD patients the administration of fixed dose combination BDP/F/G, by reducing lung hyperinflation (LH) and targeting small airways, may accordingly improve the cough efficacy. The increase in cough efficacy might in turn positively influence the quality of life of patients and underlie the prevention of acute exacerbations of COPD.
The main purpose of the present study is to compare the diagnostic yield of different aspiration techniques in Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) in the diagnosis of hilar/mediastinal adenopathy
In patients admitted following a trauma, the incidence of multiple rib fractures is reported to be 9,7%, and this can be even higher in high energy trauma like motor vehicle accidents (1). Pain deriving from rib fractures cause the patient to breath shallow in order to limit discomfort and this bring about negative consequences: shallow breathing and inability to clear secretions may cause pulmonary atelectasis eventually evolving to pneumonia. Given the aforementioned concerns, it is easy to understand why, in a context like this, control of chest pain become crucial. The best way to achieve adequate pain control have not yet been established: the aim of this study is to investigate on this clinical dilemma. In this study, 72 people with at least two monolateral rib fractures are going to be randomized into three groups: 1) standard treatment alone (intravenous analgesia: acetaminophen + morphine PCA); 2) continuous serratus plane block + standard treatment; 3) single-shot serratus plane block + standard treatment. The variables that are going to be recorded are the following: pain through the NRS scale, FEV1 and FVC through spirometry and finally an arterious gas analysis. Recording are going to be repeated at 72h after admission. The primary endpoint is to evaluate if the continuous serratus plane block is able to improve the FEV1/FVC compared to single shot or standard treatment alone. Secondary endpoints will be: the effect of continuous block on 1) resting and incident pain; 2) opioid consumption; 3) blood gas analysis parameters; 4) pulmonary complications at 1 month; 5) length of stay
The major part of people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) experiences Low Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) secondary to neurogenic Low Urinary Tract Dysfunctions (n-LUTDs) during the course of MS, reaching almost 100% after about 10 years. N-LUTDs represent an important issue for pwMS, especially for their negative impact on Quality of Life (QoL), as they are mainly youngs in the prime of their life. Moreover n-LUTDs can lead to serious complications on the urinary tract as infections or renal failure. Therefore, the neurologist in daily clinical practice must intercept the possible presence of LUTS as soon as possible so that he can promptly initiate optimal management. To do this, it is essential to provide neurologists with validated, reproducible and sensitive tools that are, above all, easy to use in an outpatient setting. Our clinical research seeks, for the first time, to show whether pwMS get any improvement after the initial LUTS management, whether this improvement, if any, is related to the professional figure takes care about LUTS (neurologist vs urologist) and if there is an objective improvement of voiding performances on standardized measures.
Diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) are one of the complications of diabetes mellitus resulting from multiple causes such as neuropathy, ischemia, and infection that contribute to morbidity and amputation. The prevalence of DFU has been estimated to be 3 to 5 times higher than the overall population. Minor amputations (digital or transmetatarsal) are the treatment of choice in case of irreversible DFU. However, many minor amputations do not heal and require re-amputation. Improvements of healing rate after adipose stem cells (ASCs) injection through micro-fragmented autologous adipose tissue of the amputation stump following minor DFU amputation were demonstrated. The use of ASCs obtained from the superficial enhanced fluid fat injection technique (SEFFICARE) to improve the healing process after DFUs minor amputation is the object of the present study. A single-center non-randomized prospective observational study will be performed. The recruited patients will undergo local injection of superficial enhanced fluid fat after a lower limb minor amputation. Laboratory analysis to evaluate the composition of the tissue and stromal cell components harvested from adipose tissue with SEFFICARE system by using digital droplets PCR. These data will serve for making associations between the clinical outcome and characteristics of the cell population administered to each patient.
Nutritional difficulties are common in children with neurodisabilities and can be associated with malnutrition and gastrointestinal diseases, such as gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) and constipation. Neurological disorders can be divided into two main categories: progressive (neurodegenerative, mitochondrial disease) and non-progressive (cerebral palsy) neurodisabilities; nature of the disorders can impair on the nutritional status of these children. In 2017, ESGHAN published guidelines with specific nutritional claims. Approximately 46%-90% of children with neurodisabilities suffer from malnutrition and an enteral feeding is necessary to reach the nutritional requirements. In addition, a relevant issue for these children is GERD, reaching up to 70% prevalence. The treatment of GERD could be based on pharmacological therapy (protonic pomp inhibitor, PPI), on nutritional treatment (changing type of formula) or on surgical treatment (Nissen Fundoplication). European guidelines for GERD recommend PPI as the first line, with fundoplication being considered in cases of failure of optimized medical therapy. Enteral feeding can be considered in order to avoid malnutrition and is justified when other efforts to increase nutritional intake. Enteral feeding can be provided by nasal tube at the beginning, but a gastrostomy feeding tube would be preferred for a long-term nutrition (greater than six weeks). A jejunal tube can be introduced through the gastrostomy; jejunal feeding is appropriate in patients with recurrent vomiting and/or tube feeding-related aspiration, severe gastroesophageal reflux, and gastroparesis. Different types of formulas can be used for enteral nutrition and can be offered by nasal tube, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) or percutaneous endoscopic jejunostomy (PEJ). Whey-based formulas have been shown to empty from the stomach more rapidly than casein-based formulas, which may be helpful for patients presenting with delayed gastric emptying. Use of peptide-based, 100% whey protein formulas are associated with improved feeding tolerance, increased consistency in meeting nutritional needs, and a reduction in gastrointestinal issues associated with vomiting and aspiration of feeds. For these reasons, the aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the role of different formulas against Nissen fundoplication, regarding tolerance, utility, applicability and safeness of these products, by performing a cost analysis.