There are about 13446 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Belgium. 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.
The goal of this clinical trial is to optimize hearing aid benefit based on the individual auditory-cognitive need using different hearing aid features in first-time hearing aid users between 45-80 years old with bilateral Phonak Audéo Paradise/Lumity 70 hearing aids. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does cognitive functioning affect hearing aid benefit? How can hearing aid fitting be optimized based on the individual auditory-cognitive profile? The hypothesis posits that cognitive abilities influence the effectiveness of hearing aids, alongside hearing status. Furthermore, if features of hearing aids improve speech understanding and listening effort, it is proposed that individuals with lower cognitive functioning will experience heightened benefits from hearing aids. The study will consist of three groups: one control group and two groups where one different feature will be modified. Participants will be tested at baseline measurement, including: - screening tests - audiological tests - questionnaires - cognitive tests - real-ear-measurement Following this, participants will be divided in one of the three groups, after which speech audiometry will be repeated. After a 4-week acclimatization period, the second measurement will take place, repeating speech audiometry and questionnaires. Subsequently, the hearing aid settings will be restored to their initial configuration.
The aim of this project is to study the presence of cancer-associated adipocytes in oesogastric cancers and their possible links with myosteatosis. This research project has a retrospective component, the aim of which is to analyse the body component based on imaging in patients with oesogastric neoplasia in order to determine the incidence of myosteatosis and to study the relationship with oncological and prognostic data. The second part of the project is prospective and will collect biological material (skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, tumour, blood) for histological, molecular and genomic analyses and will analyse muscle function in patients with oesogastric cancer. It will address the role of adipocytes in the tumour microenvironment of oesogastric cancer, focusing on their interactions with the observed muscle myosteatosis and prognosis. In the future, it will help to identify signalling pathways, targets and patients who could benefit from appropriate treatment.
The use of wound drains after mastectomy is common practice in Belgium. However, placement of suction drainage has several disadvantages. Skin bacteria can enter via the drain and cause infection, or the drain itself can cause discomfort and a need for daily nursing. After drain removal, seroma is the most common complication following breast cancer surgery. Seromas are collections of serous fluid that frequently develop under the skin or in the axillary space formed after mastectomy and/or axillary lymph node dissection, resulting from surgical trauma to blood/lymphatic vessels and post-traumatic inflammation. Seroma formation can cause discomfort and limitations in shoulder function. Moreover, it is associated with surgical site infections, often requires treatment and increases healthcare consumption. Wound healing problems might be a cause of postponement of adjuvant therapy. The quilting suture technique, in which the skin is sutured to the pectoralis muscle and drain placement is not needed, may lead to a significant reduction of seroma with a decrease in the number of aspirations and surgical site infections. In this national multicentric study, we will compare mastectomy with placement of suction drains, a standard technique used in the vast majority of Belgian hospitals, with the new quilting suture technique without placement of suction drains. We will focus on 3 distinct primary outcomes: - Pain of the mastectomy area 6 months after surgery - Upper limb function 6 months after surgery - Cosmetic outcome scored by the patient 6 months after surgery. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the absence of long-term negative effects of the quilting suture technique on shoulder function, cosmetic outcome, and pain management.
This study aims to confirm the positive effect of the Red Panax Ginseng on the cognitive performance and regulation of stress and fatigue in adults with moderate stress level.
The purpose of this study is to measure the benefit of adding abemaciclib to the chemotherapy, temozolomide, for newly diagnosed high-grade glioma following radiotherapy. Your participation could last approximately 11 months and possibly longer depending upon how you and your tumor respond.
Neutrophils are first responders to any kind of threat the body faces: infection, severe trauma, cancer, surgery... They produce the cytokines, induct oxidative stress and de-granulate toxic proteins to kill pathogens. However the new mechanism related to the neutrophil extracellular traps release has been recognized as a new way of cell necrosis and has been called a NETosis. NETosis is a hugely important new mechanism of human immune responses also described in various forms of acute kidney injury (ischemic, toxic, autoimmune). In certain kidney diseases, neutrophils release NETs and induce cell necrosis. Whether neutrophils die along with NET release, and if they do die, remains under study and is most likely context dependent. Extracellular traps (ETs) can be released also by macrophages. The ETs formation as well as macrophages extracellular traps (MET's) especially in kidney disease are cytotoxic and elicit inflammation, contributing to necro-inflammation of the early-injury phase of acute tubular necrosis in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-related renal vasculitis, anti-glomerular basement membrane disease, lupus nephritis. Finally, acute kidney injury-related releases of dying renal cells or ETs promote organ injuries - for example, acute respiratory distress syndrome. According to the recent review the term 'NET formation' has been proposed as a better term to use instead of 'NETosis'. The formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) has been recently recognized as a unique modality of pathogen fixation (sticky extracellular chromatin) and pathogen killing (cytotoxic histones and proteases) during host immune responses, as well as collateral tissue damage. Histones are potent mediators of injury in various cells. Indeed, extracellular histone induce microvascular endothelial cells and renal epithelial cells death in vitro, forms the pores that disrupt cell integrity and induce the cytolysis by their capacity of binding with membrane phospholipids and activation of inflammasome in the kidney leading to auto-entrainment of inflammation. The activation of inflammation has been demonstrated in the experimental model of crystalline nephropathy related to the uncontrolled oxalate urinary excretion. Inhibition of inflammasome activation has been related with the preservation of kidney function. In patients with kidney stone disease the presence of crystals in the urine has been demonstrated to induce tubular epithelial cells injury that can theoretically trigger the NET's or MET's release and tissue inflammation. NETs are now increasingly described as new targets for therapies, however largely under-estimated. The role of release of ETs from neutrophils and macrophages during the kidney stone disease has never been studied in urine but the neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation-NETosis - was found significantly increased in the papillae of patients with brushite stones compared with CaOx stones. The key objectives of this study are: 1. to assess NET/MET's excretion in the urine as a non-invasive method of NET/MET'osis measurement in patients with kidney diseases as a new biomarker of early stage of cells damages reflecting kidney injury occurring in patients with uncontrolled stones and other renal diseases; 2. to compare the NET/MET's concentrations in the urine with those in plasma
This study aims to evaluate the relevance of using point-of-care lung ultrasound (LUS) in modifying the physiotherapist's treatment plan for patients hospitalized in a general ward.
This study aims to determine the safety and the recommended phase II dose of RYZ101 (actinium-225 labelled DOTA-octreotate (225Ac-DOTATATE)) in participants with refractory and relapsing multiple myeloma (MM) that have received at least 3 prior lines of myeloma therapy. Participants will be selected based on somatostatin receptor (SSTR) positivity assessed by gallium-68 labelled DOTA-octreotate (68Ga-DOTATATE) PET/CT. The response to 225Ac-DOTATATE therapy will also be assessed in the target study population.
Studies have shown that non-contact boxing benefits individuals with Parkinson disease. Yet, the content of such sessions, has not yet been investigated. The following research question has therefore been asked: What is the physical intensity, in terms of both movement quality and quantity, as well as cardiovascular demand, in a group of individuals with Parkinson's disease during a one-hour session of Parkiboks? Though the study is exploratory, the investigators hypothesize to observe increases in cardiovascular activity during the session, as well as a high number of upper-limb repetitions of near maximal range of motion.
Some MS patients quickly accumulate neurological deficits, while others remain well for decades. Even though associations with age, sex, health behaviors, comorbidities and social determinants of health are widely acknowledged, the clinical heterogeneity in MS is poorly understood and variables with a robust prognostic value are lacking. Recent data suggest a key role for resilience in the central nervous system, potentially supporting the concept of neurological reserve in MS.