View clinical trials related to Heart Diseases.
Filter by:The aim of the study is to compare clinical management of patients with acute decompensation of heart failure, hospitalized in non cardiological ward, with the use of a mobile team including a cardiologist with portable echocardiography and standard care. The hypothesis is that a mobile team will lead to shorter hospitalization.
Prior work (Chris, M. et al, Clinical Science 2005; 109, 55-60) has demonstrated that drinking a cup of coffee (80-100 mg of caffeine) an hour before endothelium-dependent FMD (flow-mediated dilatation) of the brachial artery, effects endothelial function in healthy adults subjects. This effect might be attributed to caffeine, given that decaffeinated coffee (<2 mg of caffeine) was not associated with any change in endothelial performance. In the current study we intend to further examine the impact of caffeine on brachial endothelial function among healthy subjects & in patients with proven ischemic heart disease.
This study will characterize the accuracy of a commercially available artificially-intelligent stethoscope in determining which childhood murmurs suggest underlying congenital structural heart disease and therefore warrant diagnostic echocardiograms.
This is a multicenter study of a primary chemotherapy regimen in breast cancer patients at risk of developing cardiotoxicity. The aim of the study is to evaluate the response rate at surgery.
We hypothesize that adding beneficial high fiber foods to the diet will result in better overall dietary quality (measured by the Alternate Healthy Eating Index), which has been shown to be associated with cancer, than either reducing saturated fat, or a combination of high fiber and low saturated fat.
Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring has proven beneficial in increasing safety and improving patient care during pediatric cardiac surgery and during Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) stays. NIRS estimates the amount of oxygen in tissues by comparing the tissue's absorption of two wavelengths of light corresponding to hemoglobin carrying oxygen and hemoglobin without oxygen. During cardiac surgery, multi-site NIRS monitoring is used to determine the heart's output by comparing the amount of oxygen available to discrete regions of the body nourished by different parts of the circulatory system. NIRS leads placed on the forehead detect oxygen available to the brain (cerebral), while leads placed over the kidney reflect oxygen available to the internal organs (somatic). NIRS monitoring has been used for studying muscle oxygen usage during exercise in normal and disease states. Cerebral oxygenation at peak exercise at has been studied with NIRS monitoring. The use of multi-site NIRS monitoring during exercise stress testing for studying cardiac output through the patterning of somatic and cerebral oxygenation in combination with exercise stress test data has not been researched. We hypothesize that addition of multi-site NIRS monitoring to the standard data collection already achieved during exercise testing, will enable calculation of anaerobic threshold and cardiac output prediction. This will assist in determining appropriate timing for surgical intervention, predicting the post operative course and testing response to medication.
In a randomized study the Xience V coroary artery stent may be non inferior to the Cypher Select+ coronary stents in the treatment of unselected patients with coronary artery disease.
Fenofibrate is a drug that acts on the PPAR alpha receptors, increasing HDL-cholesterol and decreasing triglyceride levels. The interaction with these receptors has antiatherogenic actions by regulating the expression con key proteins that participate in vascular inflammation, plaque stability and thrombosis. Fenofibrate reduces triglycerides and increases HDL-C in plasma. It also decreases small, dense LDL particles. The use of this drug has resulted in improvement of vascular function measured by endothelial function. Our hypotheses state that fenofibrate will improve: endothelial function, improve HDL antioxidant capacity and size distribution towards a predominance of small HDL particles.
Background: Family members (spouses, siblings, offspring) of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) may themselves be at increased risk for developing CHD for genetic, biochemical and/or behavioural reasons. Targeted approaches aimed at family members of those with established CHD may be a cost-effective way to identify high-risk persons and link them to effective risk factor modification. During pilot testing we found 29% of family members of patients recently hospitalized at our institution had ≥ 3 CHD risk factors. Encouragingly, they indicated high levels of "readiness" to change underlying risk behaviours such as cigarette smoking and physical inactivity. We have developed a 12-week family heart health program featuring a personal plan for achieving risk factor goals and weekly contact with a heart health educator. This intervention needs to be fully tested. Research Aims: In this study, we will: 1. Compare the effects of a targeted family heart health (FHH) screening, counselling and follow-up program versus usual care (UC) for reducing participants total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein (TC/HDL) ratio 52 weeks after program entry, in family members of patients recently hospitalized with CHD; 2. Compare the effects of the FHH program versus UC on modifiable components comprising the Framingham score, including: smoking status; systolic blood pressure; total cholesterol; and high density lipoprotein cholesterol; 3. Compare the effects of the FHH program versus UC on: lifestyle-related factors (dietary patterns, leisure time exercise, body composition); medication use (anti-lipemic medications, anti-hypertensive medications, pharmacotherapies for smoking cessation); and use of healthcare resources (physician visits, hospitalization days, number of laboratory and diagnostic tests and procedures).
This purpose of this study is to determine if the administration of ezetimibe and simvastatin together is more effective than simvastatin alone in lowering LDL-C levels to a goal of <100 mg/dL in patients at risk for Heart Disease.