View clinical trials related to Emphysema.
Filter by:There is a growing population of end-stage COPD patients for whom surgical treatments like lung transplantation and lung volume reduction surgery are not possible. In such patients, size mismatch between large emphysematous lungs and a restricted chest wall is a major cause for the reduction of dynamic lung volumes and consequent dyspnea. We hypothesized that enlargement of the thorax would be a potential alternative strategy to volume reduction surgery as it may improve lung mechanics by resizing the chest to the lung and does not further deprive patients from lung tissue which is already scarce.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a novel intervention incorporating self-management education, an action plan, and case-management to decrease the risk of hospitalizations due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among veterans with severe COPD. Hypotheses: Primary Hypothesis: Veterans with COPD who receive a self-management program incorporating education sessions, development of an action plan, and case-management will have a decreased risk of COPD hospitalization compared to standardized COPD care. Primary Objective: In an intent-to-treat analysis, determine the efficacy of a comprehensive self-management program for reducing the risk of COPD hospitalization in veterans with severe COPD in comparison to patients receiving standardized COPD care. Secondary Hypotheses: Compared with standardized COPD care, veterans with COPD who receive a comprehensive self-management intervention will have: A) decreased health-related costs resulting from decreased hospitalizations and outpatient utilization, B) decreased hospitalization rates and average length of stay due to both COPD and all-cause admissions, and C) improvement in a set of outcomes including mortality, health-related quality of life, medication adherence, patient satisfaction, disease knowledge, skill acquisition and self-efficacy. Secondary Objectives: To evaluate the healthcare costs, hospitalization days, mortality, adherence, and health outcomes of a comprehensive self-management program compared to standardized COPD care among patients with severe COPD measured by: A)Healthcare-related costs B)Health services use due to COPD and to all causes C)Clinical outcome measures 1. Mortality 2. Health-related quality of life measured by generic and COPD-specific measures 3. Patient satisfaction 4. Medication adherence 5. Disease knowledge, skill acquisition and self-efficacy In the proposed study, 960 veterans with severe COPD hospitalized in the previous year will be randomly assigned to either a comprehensive case management program or standardized COPD care. The comprehensive group will receive an initial, intense education program with development of an action plan, and regular telephone contacts by a case manager in addition to standardized COPD care. Patients allocated to the control arm will receive standardized care that incorporates guideline-based recommendations including influenza vaccination, a short-acting bronchodilator, and either a long-acting bronchodilator or inhaled corticosteroid inhaler. The study will be conducted in 2 phases, a 12-month feasibility study conducted at 6 VA sites followed by the full study in which an additional 8 sites will enroll patients over the next 24 months. As a result, 180 patients will be initially enrolled in the feasibility study over the first year and the remaining 780 patients will be enrolled in the second and third years of the study when the full study is implemented. Subjects will be followed until the completion of the study, for at least one, and up to four years. The primary outcome is time to first COPD hospitalization.
The purpose of this research study is to determine whether analysis of genes in sputum is a useful noninvasive technique for measuring response to drugs in patients with COPD. We propose to use polymerase chain reaction to evaluate gene expression in induced sputum from adult current smokers with moderate COPD, adult former smokers with moderate COPD. This study is designed to determine whether changes in expression of previously-identified inflammatory markers in induced sputum can be detected in response to drug therapy in COPD and to evaluate potential differences in the expression of these markers in adult smokers with and without COPD. Pre- and post-treatment serum will be obtained to facilitate proteomic analysis of therapeutic response as well. Changes in sputum gene expression in response to treatment will be the primary outcome variable in this study. Secondary outcomes will include changes in lung function, as well as changes in induced sputum inflammation. These endpoints will be evaluated before and directly after 6 weeks of randomly-assigned treatment with either salmeterol xinafoate or fluticasone propionate/50mcg salmeterol xinafoate combination DPI bid. Endpoints will be re-evaluated following a 4 week wash-out period.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effective dose of the Aeris BLVR System in patients with advanced emphysema.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Aeris BLVR System in patients with advanced emphysema.
The purpose of the VENT Cost-Effectiveness Sub-Study is to gather healthcare utilization and quality of life information on patients enrolled in the VENT study in order to analyze the relative cost-effectiveness of the endobronchial valve implant procedure.