Crane SD, Elliott MW, Gilligan P, Richards K, Gray AJ Randomised controlled comparison of continuous positive airways pressure, bilevel non-invasive ventilation, and standard treatment in emergency department patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary oedema. Emerg Med J. 2004 Mar;21(2):155-61.
Evans TW International Consensus Conferences in Intensive Care Medicine: non-invasive positive pressure ventilation in acute respiratory failure. Organised jointly by the American Thoracic Society, the European Respiratory Society, the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, and the Société de Réanimation de Langue Française, and approved by the ATS Board of Directors, December 2000. Intensive Care Med. 2001 Jan;27(1):166-78. Review.
L'Her E, Duquesne F, Paris A, Mouline J, Renault A, Garo B, Boles JM [Spontaneous positive end-expiratory pressure ventilation in elderly patients with cardiogenic pulmonary edema. Assessment in an emergency admissions unit]. Presse Med. 1998 Jun 20;27(22):1089-94. French.
Pang D, Keenan SP, Cook DJ, Sibbald WJ The effect of positive pressure airway support on mortality and the need for intubation in cardiogenic pulmonary edema: a systematic review. Chest. 1998 Oct;114(4):1185-92. Review.
The treatment of heart failure Task Force of the Working Group on Heart Failure of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur Heart J. 1997 May;18(5):736-53.
Randomised Controlled Comparison of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) With Standard Treatment in Out-of-hospital Patients With Acute Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.