All Clinical Trials in Canada

The goal of this study is to determine what happens to the heart muscle contraction when people cycle before their hemodialysis treatment. Will pre-dialysis exercise protect the heart from a decrease in pumping of the heart muscle (called stunning) that can happen during hemodialysis. We will study whether pre-dialysis exercise decreases heart stunning, decreases the number and severity of symptoms commonly associated with hemodialysis, and other outcomes Read Less

The investigators propose to use clinically validated patient avatar technology ("PDXovo") that can test multiple drugs against patients' cancers to identify the most promising systemic therapy for each individual. Read Less

Vedolizumab is a medicine that helps to reduce inflammation and pain in the digestive system. In this study, children and teenagers with moderate to severe Crohn's disease will be treated with vedolizumab. The main aim of the study is to check if participants achieve remission after treatment with the vedolizumab. Remission means symptoms improve or disappear and an endoscopy shows no signs of inflammation. Participants will receive 3 infusions of vedolizumab over 6 weeks. Then, those who have a clinical response will receive either a high dose or low dose of vedolizumab once every 8 weeks. They will receive the same dose every time. Read Less

Perioperative respiratory complications are a major source of morbidity and mortality. Postoperative atelectasis plays a central role in their development. Protective "open lung" mechanical ventilation aims to minimize the occurrence of atelectasis during the perioperative period. Randomized controlled studies have been performed comparing various "open lung" ventilation protocols, but these studies report varying and conflicting effects. The interpretation of these studies is complicated by the absence of imagery supporting the pulmonary impact associated with the use of different ventilation strategies. Imaging studies suggest that the gain in pulmonary gas content in "open lung" ventilation regimens disappears within minutes after the extubation. Thus, the potential benefits of open-lung ventilation appear to be lost if, at the time of extubation, no measures are used to keep the lungs well aerated. Recent expert recommendations on good mechanical ventilation practices in the operating room conclude that there is actually no quality study on extubation. Extubation is a very common practice for anesthesiologists as part of their daily clinical practice. It is therefore imperative to generate evidence on good clinical practice during anesthetic emergence in order to potentially identify an effective extubation strategy to reduce postoperative pulmonary complications. Read Less

Stage 1: To select the optimal dose of naporafenib + trametinib to be studied in Stage 2. Stage 2: To compare progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with NRAS-mutant (NRASm) melanoma who are randomized to receive the combination of naporafenib + trametinib to that of patients who are randomized to physician's choice of therapy (dacarbazine, temozolomide, or trametinib monotherapy). Read Less

The purpose is to determine if patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) taking nintedanib will have improved exercise endurance, breathlessness and quality of life if breathing 60% oxygen compared to standard of care during an 8 week exercise training program. Read Less

This two-arm, double-blind randomized clinical trial will recruit 172 generally healthy, low-risk pregnant individuals aged 19-42 years living in Vancouver, Canada. Participants will be randomized to receive one of two forms of iron (ferrous fumarate or ferrous bisglycinate) in addition to a prenatal multivitamin (without iron) daily during their pregnancy until delivery, with optional continuation until \~4 weeks postpartum for breastmilk sample collection. Blood samples will be taken at baseline (13-25 weeks gestation) and follow-up (35-37 weeks gestation) to assess how different forms of iron impact body iron stores. Stool samples will be obtained within 1 week of both baseline and follow-up visits to assess changes in gut microbiome composition. This research will inform more specific guidelines for optimal iron supplementation practices for the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency for both mother and baby. Read Less

The sleep-wake cycle is severely disrupted during an episode of mania. Often mania is treated with medications that can come with significant side effects. Years of patient and family engagement with this population have revealed great interest in therapies targeting the sleep-wake cycle. However, there is still a lack of studies to support using these treatments for mania. Patient partners are especially interested in two specific therapies for mania, blue-blocking glasses and time-restricted eating, because of their perceived feasibility and safety. This pilot study will formally investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of these therapies for participants with mania, an understudied population that faces many difficulties even after recovery. The pilot study will collect interviews to identify barriers and ways to better support patients with mania using the therapies. The study will also investigate how well these therapies can treat manic symptoms and restore sleep-wake cycles by tracking symptom rating scales and measuring activity levels. Results from this pilot will be used to direct a larger study that will use a state-of-the art design to test the effectiveness of both therapies alone and in combination. Read Less

Congenital heart disease (CHD) affects approximately 1% of newborns in the US, with 25% of those affected having critical conditions requiring open heart surgery within one year of birth. Surgical and medical advances have allowed many patients to live beyond their fourth and fifth decades of life. Unfortunately, cardiac arrhythmias are a relatively common sequela due to cardiac anomalies and surgical scars in addition to residual volume and pressure load on the heart. Atrial arrhythmias, including sinus node dysfunction and intra-atrial re-entrant tachycardia (IART) are among the more common abnormalities found in adults with repaired CHD. The presence of IART significantly increases morbidity and mortality, and anti-arrhythmic medications have been shown to be a sub-optimal treatment strategy with the majority of patients requiring multi-drug therapy. Catheter ablation procedures remain a treatment option, but are less successful for some patient demographics. In the mid-1990's, pacemakers with atrial anti-tachycardia pacing (ATP) capabilities were developed, primarily for the management of atrial flutter and fibrillation in adults with structurally normal hearts. Given the need for pacemakers in the CHD population to manage sinus node dysfunction and atrioventricular node conduction block, the adoption of atrial anti-tachycardia pacemakers began to gain favor. However, there is limited data available comparing the safety and effectiveness of ATP therapy between various demographics of CHD patients. In the current study, the investigators aim to determine if ATP is an effective treatment strategy for IART, specifically within particular sub-populations of CHD patients. Additionally, investigators hope to delineate any significant differences in efficacy of ATP treatment between adult and pediatric congenital heart patients. The research team will accomplish our goals with a retrospective, multi-center study in which data is collected from existing electronic medical records and pacemaker interrogations. Following data collection, the investigators will employ statistical analyses to determine if certain CHD demographics are statistically significant predictors of ATP therapy outcomes. The purpose of this prospective/retrospective study is to determine how effective atrial anti-tachycardia therapies are with the congenital heart patients who are known to have atrial arrhythmias. As this population ages, we know that arrhythmic burden increases and medications are increased or changed for symptomatic improvement. Patients will be enrolled at the time of anti tachycardia device (ATD) placement or when device therapies are turned on. Patients will need a minimum of 5 years of clinical history prior to implantation and after implantation (unless patient is very young). Data will be collected both retrospectively and prospectively. The research team will consent patients at the time of clinical evaluations and scheduled follow-ups (usually 3 - 6 months). If therapy is effective, investigators will determine the specific programming which was successful. If therapy was ineffective, investigators will also determine if a change in programing was made and if this improved ATP efficacy. Investigators will also determine the arrhythmia burden. Cardioversion and medications before and after ATD implantation will be the key determinants of arrhythmia burden in this study. Read Less

Dyspnea (i.e. breathlessness) and exercise intolerance are common symptoms for patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD), yet it is not known why. It has been suggested that muscle dysfunction may contribute to dyspnea and exercise intolerance in ILD. Our study aims to: i) examine differences in the structure and function of the leg muscles in ILD patients, ii) determine if leg muscle fatigue contributes to dyspnea and exercise limitation in patients with ILD, and iii) determine the effects of breathing extra oxygen on leg muscle fatigue, as well as ability to exercise in ILD patients. Read Less

Brain metastasis (BrM) develops in approximately 40% of cancer patients. Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a form of radiotherapy that delivers high-dose per fraction to individual lesions that is commonly used to treat BrM. Radionecrosis (RN) is an adverse event that occurs in approximately 10 - 25% of patients 6 - 24 months after treatment with SRS. Tumour progression may also occur due to local failure of treatment. Radionecrosis and tumour progression share very similar clinical features including vomiting, nausea, and focal neurologic findings. Radionecrosis and tumour progression also share overlapping imaging characteristics. Due to their similarities, physicians need to perform a surgical resection to diagnose the complication. By using a hybrid FLT-PET/MRI scan, the investigators propose that this combination scan will provide robust data with which to differentiate between radionecrosis and tumour progression without the need for surgery. The investigators plan to conduct a single center feasibility study to investigate the potential in differentiating between SRS and tumour progression in patients, including those who may have previously undergone SRS for BrM, who are suspected to have either RN or tumour progression using hybrid FLT-PET/MRI imaging. Read Less

Exercise training as part of a structured pulmonary rehabilitation program is a key factor in improving quality of life and symptoms in people with interstitial lung disease (ILD). Optimal methods of exercise training are yet to be explored in ILD. Drinking beetroot juice, which is rich in nitrate, has been shown to improve exercise performance in a variety of groups, but its effects in ILD have not been tested. The purpose of this study is to determine if drinking nitrate-rich beetroot juice can improve exercise performance compared to drinking nitrate-free beetroot juice in people with ILD. Read Less