There are about 189 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Ecuador. 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 investigators propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial in collaboration with the Fundacion Raices, a non-governmental organization (NGO) with strong ties to the local community of Esmeraldas, Ecuador. A total of about 3,000 subjects will be involved in the full-scale study over the course of 2 years. In partnership with the Fundacion Raices, the research team will set up stands at four public places in the city of Esmeraldas: the "malecon" (esplanade on the town's waterfront), the "Centro Comercial Multiplaza" (Esmeraldas' large shopping mall), the municipal market (a popular destination for groceries, etc.), and a public park located in the city center. Each stand will feature a sign inviting individuals to stop and "get their health checked", and will provide free refreshments (juice boxes and water). A monitor will approach individuals at the malecon/shopping center/municipal market/public park and ask whether they are interested to learn about a health initiative by the Fundacion Raices and a group of public health researchers. If an individual is interested, the monitor will begin the three steps of the experiment: 1. Participants fill out a brief, anonymous survey with demographics, socio- economic characteristics, and whether they have been tested for HIV/AIDS in the past. 2. Participants receive the script and actions associated with the experimental condition into which they are assigned to according to the randomization table. There are three experimental conditions: T1 = "Information". T2 = "Active Choice". T3 = "Monetary incentive". 3. Whether participants subsequently showed up at a medical facility to get tested for HIV/AIDS is noted in the record.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most frequent gastrointestinal tumor and the second cause of cancer related death. Colonoscopy is currently the recommended method for detection of polyps and cancers in the colon. Removal of all adenomatous polyps during colonoscopy has become worldwide a standard procedure as it has been demonstrated to significantly reduce colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. It is routine practice to remove all the detected polyps for pathological evaluation, due to the low accuracy (59% to 84%) to differentiate non-neoplastic from neoplastic colorectal lesions with white-light endoscopy. The development of electronic or virtual chromoendoscopy (CE) has aimed to reliably predict histology of colorectal lesions based on endoscopic features. This technology differentiates between neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions base on the analysis of the neo-angiogenesis and the mucosal pit pattern. Optical endoscopic diagnosis allows the real-time evaluation of polyp histology during colonoscopy and to determine the appropriate therapeutic strategy. This is important in clinical practice, since adenomas or superficial invasive submucosal carcinoma lesions can be curatively treated by endoscopic removal, unlike deeply invasive carcinomas, which requires surgery. The Narrow-band imaging (NBI) international colorectal endoscopic (NICE) classification is validated classification system proposed as a valid tool for not only differentiating hyperplastic from adenomatous polyps, but also predicting submucosal deep (SM-d) carcinomas. It was developed based on NBI technology, leaving uncertainty on its applicability to other systems. It was previously evaluated the application of the NICE classification to Fujinon spectral Imaging Color Enhancement (FICE) technology founding suboptimal results (accuracy 77%, sensitivity 77% and specificity 75%) and moderate inter-observer agreement (kappa: 0.51).
Patients with cirrhosis have structural and functional alterations of the liver. The progressive deposition of hepatic fibrosis is related to the subsequent development of portal hypertension (PH), and PH is associated with mayor complications including ascites, hepatic encephalopathy and development of gastroesophageal varices with a high risk of bleeding. Variceal bleeding is a medical emergency associated with a 6-week mortality rate of approximately 10-20%. Liver biopsy is the gold standard for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis, whereas the measurement of hepatic vein pressure gradient (HVPG) is the standard to evaluate PH and upper endoscopy (UE) is the method of choice to detect the presence and grade of gastroesophageal varices. The last two also estimates the risk of variceal bleeding. Unfortunately, clinical investigation of PH implies HVPG measurement or endoscopy for esophageal varices (EV) screening and grading. The first one is an invasive technique, mainly restricted to tertiary centers, that requires personal training, increased health care costs and patient discomfort. The UE, even though has demonstrated utility to predict HVPG (HVPG value ≥ 10 mmHg predicts the presence of EV and a value ≥ 12 mmHg is predictive for variceal bleeding), has been criticized of being subjective. Because of this, alternative test including elastographic techniques, have been develop to assess the severity of PH, the presence of EVs and the risk of variceal bleeding. Elastography is a technique used to measure tissue elasticity and stiffness in real time, by the application of slight compression using a transducer to the targeted tissue. The principle is that tissue compression produces deformation (strain) and that the strain is smaller in harder tissue as compared to softer tissue. Consequently, by measuring the tissue strain induced by compression, it is possible to estimate the tissue hardness. Fibroscan® (FS) (Echosens, París, Francia) uses the principle of one-dimension transient elastography (TE) for the assessment of tissue stiffness. It was used initially for liver stiffness measurement (LSM) and proved to be reliable for the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis and avoid liver biopsy in 90% of cases. Also LSM by TE accurately correlates with the severity of PH and the presence of esophageal varices.
Bleeding from gastric varices (GV) is associated with high mortality. Injection of cyanoacrylate (CYA) using standard gastroscopes has demonstrated higher hemostasis and lower rebleeding rates compared to band ligation or sclerotherapy. Nevertheless CYA treatment is known to be associated with significant adverse events. Pulmonary embolism due to CYA injection is a serious and sometimes fatal complication of this therapy. Romero-Garcia et al. recently showed that, even these patients usually have respiratory symptom, this complication can be present in asymptomatic patients and with only CT pathological images showing it. On the other hand, risk of glue embolism, has been described to be dependent on the volume of CYA injected, being significantly greater with high volume. Other complications related to CYA injection are, hemorrhage from post injection ulcers, fever, peritonitis, needle impaction, and even death. Also the injection material can cause serious damage to the endoscope. Currently endoscopic treatments are CYA injection under direct visualization using a standard gastroscope and treatment under EUS guidance with injection of CYA, coils or both. However, to date, it is unknown whether one of these techniques is technically more feasible or causes less adverse events than the other. Treatment under EUS guidance may improve results because of precise targeting of the varix lumen or afferent feeding veins. This allows the vein to be obstructed with a small amount of CYA, less than used for the "blind" injection of GV with standard endoscopic technique and may reduce the risk of glue embolism. EUS can confirm varix obliteration by using Doppler. Also visualization of GV by using EUS is not impaired by blood or food in the stomach and thus can be performed in the setting of active hemorrhage.
Colonoscopy is considered the gold standard for colorectal polyp and cancer detection. However, even meticulous colonoscopy substantial numbers of colorectal polyps may be missed and carcinomas may not be prevented. Previous studies have found a 12-28% of miss rate for all polyps, a 31% for hyperplastic polyps and 6-27% for adenomas, with the higher miss rates noted for smaller polyps. The lesions missing rate depends on several factors as the location on difficult areas to be evaluated with conventional colonoscopes (the proximal side of the ileocecal valve, haustral folds, flexures or rectal valves), a flat shape, a poor bowel preparation and inadequate endoscopy technique, particularly rapid colonoscope withdrawal. Using the commonly available 140º angle of view colonoscope, approximately 13% of the colonic surface is unseen. The incorporation of colonoscopes with a 170-degree wide angled could not improve adenoma detection rate. The introduction of high definition (HD) colonoscopes and visual image enhancement technologies as narrow band imaging (NBI, Olympus America, Center Valley, PA), i-SCAN™ (PENTAX of America, Montvale, NJ) and Fuji Intelligent Chromo-Endoscopy (FICE™, Fujinon Endoscopy, Wayne, NJ) have improved the lesion characterization, but several studies proved no increase in adenoma detection rates. The Third Eye Retroscope (Avantis Medical Systems, Sunnyvale, CA) is a disposable retrograde viewing device advanced via the accessory channel of a standard colonoscope. Allows retrograde views behind colonic folds and flexures simultaneously with the forward view of the colon. Although it was shown an increase in adenoma detection rate by 11%-25%, it has many disadvantages. It requires a separate processor and the device is disposable making the cost bigger. Occupies the working channel of the colonoscope which limits the ability to suction. If a polyp is seen the viewing device has to be removed in order to perform the polypectomy. The optic is not high definition and finally, the endoscopist has to get used to visualizing and processing two simultaneous video streams from the colonoscope and from the retroscope device.
This was a multicenter, randomized study to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of VRC-ZKADNA090-00-VP (Zika virus wildtype DNA vaccine) or placebo. In Part A, the primary objective was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of the vaccine in different vaccination regimens. In Part B, the primary objectives were to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccine compared to placebo.
Individuals receiving dialysis are at risk of heart failure and heart related death. There is an urgent need for treatments that reduce the risk of these problems in patients that require dialysis. Spironolactone is a pill used to prevent heart failure and related deaths in patients that do not require dialysis. It works by blocking a hormone (aldosterone) in your body that causes high blood pressure and can damage the heart. Although spironolactone is very effective in patients that do not require dialysis, we do not know if spironolactone is effective in dialysis patients. Our research will help determine if spironolactone reduces heart failure and heart related deaths in dialysis patients. The purpose of this study is to determine if spironolactone reduces death or hospitalization for heart failure and is well tolerated in patients that require dialysis.
The purpose of this study is to describe current practice on red blood cell transfusion in critically ill patients of intensive care units located in high altitude areas
Prospective, multinational, non-interventional post-authorisation study to collect additional clinical data and to ensure consistency in the long-term between the outcome from pre-authorisation clinical studies (in 135 previously treated paediatric and adult patients) and routine clinical practice. Besides aspects such as general product safety and efficacy, there will be a focus on immunogenicity, particularly on inhibitor development. The diagnosis of FVIII inhibitor will be based on clinical observations and confirmed by FVIII inhibitor testing in the laboratory.
Chronic esophageal disorders affect approximately one third part of global population, with a deleterious impact in the quality of life of patients. Measured of health related quality of life in chronic esophageal conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease and achalasia are widely used to measure this important patient-reported outcome. The Northwestern Esophageal Quality of Life (NEQOL) is a hybrid measure of esophageal illness, allowing for broad use across esophageal diseases while maintain sensitivity to nuances of a specific condition. The NEQOL is a reliable and valid hybrid measure of disease specific health related quality of life across several chronic esophageal conditions. The Ecuadorian Institute of Digestive Diseases aims to translate and validate this survey into Spanish for its use in a Hispanic population. This cross-sectional study aims to translate, apply and validate the NEQOL in the patients attending in the esophageal division of the institute.