View clinical trials related to Heart Diseases.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and tolerability between clopidogrel resinate and clopidogrel bisulfate in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) or CHD equivalents.
The cardiac output (CO) is an important parameter in the diagnosis and therapy of cardiac diseases. The current standard methods for the determination of the CO, however, are either invasive (e.g. right heart catheterization) or technically expendable and expensive (magnetic resonance tomography, MRT). Therefore the aim of the study at hand was to evaluate the electrical velocimetry technique as a new method for determining the CO and to compare this new technique with the Inert Gas Rebreathing Method and with the Magnetic Resonance Tomography
Heart failure with preserved systolic function (HF-PSF, or 'diastolic heart failure') accounts for half of hospitalizations for heart failure in patients over the age of 65. Most HF-PSF patients have systemic hypertension (HTN), and characteristic HTN-induced cardiovascular changes contribute to HF-PSF. However, it is unclear why most patients with HTN never develop HF-PSF or which specific aspects of HTN predispose to HF-PSF. In the Dahl S rat, the primary animal model of HF-PSF, high dietary sodium intake suppresses the systemic renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, but upregulates renal and cardiac renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system by inducing oxidative stress. In humans, the magnitude of blood pressure response to sodium ingestion and depletion can categorize subjects as "salt-resistant" and "salt-sensitive." Human salt sensitivity is associated with structural and loading conditions that increase the risk for HF-PSF, including HTN, ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction, arterial stiffening, and increased plasma volume. High dietary sodium intake induces oxidative stress in salt-sensitive humans. In humans with HTN and normal ventricular systolic function that do not have heart failure, increased oxidative stress predicts impaired exercise capacity, ventricular hypertrophy, diastolic dysfunction, arterial stiffening, and vascular endothelial dysfunction. The investigators have proposed that "salt sensitivity" and the accompanying oxidative stress on the typical high-sodium Western diet may contribute to the initiation and progression of HF-PSF. In patients with HF-PSF, the investigators will relate dietary changes to biochemical and cardiovascular functional measures. The investigators will study subjects on ad-lib diet and and following three weeks of rigorous dietary modification with the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)/sodium-restricted diet (SRD). This diet is richer in natural antioxidants and lower in sodium than the usual American diet. The DASH/SRD is recommended to lower blood pressure in patients with HTN, and is particularly effective in elderly, obese, and salt-sensitive hypertensives. Dietary sodium restriction is recommended for all HF patients including those with HF-PSF. The investigators hypothesize that the DASH/SRD will have favorable effects on oxidative stress, ventricular and vascular function, and blood pressure control in patients with hypertensive HF-PSF.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether Ateronon, a nutritional supplement that contains lycopene from tomatoes has a favorable effect on carotid atherosclerosis, lipid levels, and other biomarkers of coronary heart disease. The trial was stopped early due to insufficient financial support from the initial study collaborator, Cambridge Theranostics Ltd. Collected patient data are sufficient for final trial-based analyses to be conducted with financial support from the new study collaborator, CamNutra Ltd. The data will still be analyzed according to the original study aims.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of multi-detector computed tomography using 320 detectors for identifying the combination of coronary artery stenosis ≥ 50% and a corresponding myocardium perfusion defect in a patient with suspected coronary artery disease compared with conventional coronary angiography and single photon emission computed tomography myocardium perfusion imaging.
Infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) requiring surgery frequently have brain injury seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This occurs in approximately 40% of these newborns, and even though these are full-term infants, the injury seen closely resembles the same form of brain injury that can be seen in premature babies. Much like premature newborns, infants with CHD also have long-term neurodevelopmental problems (in over 50%). The investigators do not know why infants with CHD get this specific form of brain injury. One risk factor is felt to be the inflammation that occurs in response to heart-lung bypass (cardiopulmonary bypass, or CPB), a necessary feature of open-heart surgery. Newborns have a stronger inflammatory reaction to CPB than older children or adults. The investigators do know from animal experiments and other human data that inflammation can be harmful to the developing brain. The investigators hypothesize that children with CHD requiring surgery as a newborn have brain injury due to toxicity from the inflammatory response. The investigators will test this by enrolling newborns undergoing heart surgery to measure markers of inflammation, measure brain injury by MRI, and then test their developmental outcome at 1 and 2 years of age. An association between inflammation and injury might impact what medicines are chosen to protect the brain in future studies, even in other populations such as preterm infants.
The objective of the proposed study, using an experimental, two-group (n = 30 couples in each group) repeated measures design, was to pilot test the effects of the PaTH Intervention versus a usual care group in improving the following outcomes: a) physical activity and healthy eating behaviors, and b) functional capacity. The primary outcomes will be physical activity behavior (minutes per week) and eating behavior (percent saturated fat) at the 6 month time point in both the coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patient and his/her partner. Secondary outcome includes functional capacity in patients and partners at 6 months.
The purpose of this clinical research is to learn if DEFINITY® 416 will cause any adverse effects during Right Heart Catheterization. This research was requested by the FDA.
The primary objective of this study is to establish a cut off level of platelet inhibition that separates patients with or without previous stent occlusion with acute clinical onset while on aspirin and clopidogrel treatment within 6 months after coronary stenting for coronary artery disease.
Background: - Genetic research has implications for drug development and marketing. Race-based medicine may be able to provide specific treatment for populations with increased disease-specific morbidity and mortality. However, contemporary genetic research refutes the idea that races are genetically distinct populations, even as drugs designed for use in specific races are being promoted. - Studies have shown high levels of public suspicion for race-based and personalized genetic medicine. Concerns related to not only the potential performance of race-based drugs, but also the motives of those offering these drugs. Many participants have suggested conspiracy theories in which race-based medicine was disguising an attempt to provide inferior medications or deliberately harm certain populations. Concerns about personalized medicine often have to do with privacy and other personal concerns. - Public suspicions of race-based medicine, and to a lesser extent, personalized genetic medicine, make it important to examine and understand the theoretical and empirical literature on trust and health care. Objective: - To describe the perspective of participants evaluating the medicine offer. Eligibility: - Males and females ages 18 and older who are visiting the John Hopkins clinics (primarily the adult care clinics). - Participants must be able to take a literacy screen and respond to a short survey. Design: - Participants will be asked to take a researcher-administrated literacy screen, read one of three randomly assigned vignettes, and fill out a survey. The first page of the survey will provide information about the study. - Participants will respond to initial questions about demographics, experiences with discrimination, and trust in the medical profession and institutions. - Each participant will receive a random vignette in which he/she will imagine him/herself being diagnosed with a common, chronic condition and offered a conventional drug, a race-based drug, or a genetically personalized drug. - After being presented with the vignette, participants will be asked to respond to a survey that asks about their levels of trust in the vignette doctor, perceived respect given to the patient by the vignette physician, emotional response to the vignette, their belief in the effectiveness and safety of the drug prescribed in the vignette, information sufficiency, and their hypothetical behavioral intention to take the drug. - Participants will be debriefed after completing the survey, and will be offered a small amount of compensation for participating.