Washington, DC Paid Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the device performance and monitor the safety and effectiveness of the Berlin Heart EXCOR Active Driving System while being used with the approved EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device. EXCOR Active Driving System is intended for use with the approved EXCOR Pediatric VAD. The EXCOR Pediatric VAD is intended to provide mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to cardiac transplantation for pediatric patients. Pediatric candidates with severe isolated left ventricular or biventricular dysfunction who are candidates for cardiac transplant and require circulatory support may be treated using the EXCOR Pediatric. EXCOR Active is intended for use in a clinical setting. EXCOR Active can be used in any kind of hospital unit (e.g. OR, ICU, intermediate care unit or general care unit). The driving unit may be moved between clinical units using the caddy or baby buggy; however, a patient must always be accompanied by a person trained in the use of the manual pump and emergency procedures during transport in the event of an emergency. The driving unit can be transported during operation. Read Less

The overarching goal of this study is the development of a physiologic endpoint of pain and treatment effect in three distinct rheumatology populations. This would enable objective assessment of pain and treatment in these populations and enable a much more precise approach to treatment. Such an endpoint stands to significantly improve outcomes in these patients by eliminating the need for a trial-and-error approach to treatment. This is a single site observational study that aims to collect initial pilot data in three distinct patient groups. As this is observational, there is no randomization or blinding in the study. Patients will be followed for a period of one year after enrollment. Baseline measurements will be taken at the time of enrollment, and at each subsequent standard of care clinic visit as feasible, for a period of one year. As this is an observational study, there will be no change to the treatment for any patient due to research activities. The primary objective of this study is the characterization of the nociceptive index in three pediatric rheumatology populations. The secondary objective is the characterization of the nociceptive index in these populations in response to standard of care interventions. This is necessary to demonstrate the ability of this approach to serve as an endpoint of treatment effect. Read Less

It is generally recognized that pain assessment and management especially in newborns, children and other nonverbal populations is an unmet need. According to the American Medical Association, "the pediatric population is at risk of inadequate pain management, with age-related factors affecting pain management in children. Children are often given minimal or no analgesia for procedures that would routinely be treated aggressively in adults. Although much is now known about pain management in children, it has not been widely or effectively translated into routine clinical practice". These two factors combine to emphasize the necessity for an objective tool to quantify pain and monitor the effectiveness of analgesia, especially during treatments. Further, it is reported that many patients require a combination of treatments, and it is often necessary to test a variety of treatments before the personal match for treatment is found. The method in place to change the care on a subjective basis is difficult, time consuming, and not easily individualized. This pilot study is part of an ongoing effort to develop a method to objectively assess response to specific analgesic interventions. It specifically aims to discern the impact of analgesic interventions on sensory nerve fiber sensitivity in a diverse patient population. Read Less

Scoliosis is a complex 3-dimensional deformity of the spine. It may occur at any time throughout growth and development and is typically detected through x-ray imaging. Although effective at visualizing a curve, x-ray imaging is costly and may expose children to potentially harmful ionizing radiation. This is a 30 patient study to evaluate the reliability of ultrasound, an imaging technique without radiation, to effectively measure scoliosis deformities compared to the gold-standard of x-ray. Read Less

The objective of this longitudinal cohort study is to quantify the effects of antenatal opioid exposure on the trajectory of brain development over the first 2 years of life, examine associations with developmental and neurobehavioral outcomes, and explore how specific factors (differing antenatal and postnatal exposures, severity of neonatal opioid withdrawal, maternal stress/depression/parenting) modify these effects Read Less

In this study, the investigators propose a novel method to detect Down syndrome using photography for facial dysmorphology, a tool called computer-aided diagnosis (CAD). After validating the method, this technology will be expanded to perform similar functions to assist in the detection of other dysmorphic syndromes. By using photography and image analysis this automated assessment tool would have the potential to improve the diagnosis rate and allow for remote, non-invasive diagnostic evaluation for dysmorphologists in a timely manner. Read Less

The purpose of this study is the development of a physiologic endpoint using a novel technology that would provide an objective, easy to use and more sensitive assessment of VIPN in children and adolescents. The ability to more easily detect and monitor VIPN, even before it is clinically evident, would facilitate optimizing the dosing of vincristine for maximal disease response while minimizing the risk of lifelong functional deficits affecting quality of life. This approach would also enable the development of specific therapies to minimize or eliminate the occurrence of VIPN in children and adolescents. This is a single site study that aims to develop a novel device to evaluate and characterize vincristine-induced neuropathic pain. The investigators will enroll patients with ALL following the Delayed Intensification (DI) phase of treatment. At each study visit, the investigators will evaluate the nPRD as well as the TNS-PV. The nPRD will inform the neuropathy index which will be used to compare to the TNS-PV. We anticipate a correlation between the two. Read Less

Inappropriate prescribing is the fundamental upstream driver of the opioid epidemic. Objective measures to determine the appropriateness of an opioid intervention, provide monitoring of the therapy for adequacy of dose and detection of tolerance or hyperalgesia would eliminate the subjective nature of opioid mediated pain management and obviate iatrogenic facilitation of opioid abuse. The present study is designed to objectively determine whether our device can pain type and determine analgesic efficacy thereby optimizing treatment selection and opioid management. Read Less

The study will assess the performance of the combined system, i.e., the use of the EsoGuard assay (lab developed test) on cells collected using the EsoCheck (501k cleared device) to detect Barrett's Esophagus (BE), with or without dysplasia, and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) as compared to Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) plus biopsies in both confirmed cases of BE/EAC and in controls (subjects without a prior diagnosis but undergoing screening for BE/EAC) Read Less

The purpose of this registry is to develop valid scientific evidence of the safety and benefit of Barostim Therapy in the commercial setting in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) that were recently implanted with the Barostim System. Read Less

This study will investigate if an intra-nasal nose spray of the drug oxytocin can decrease the amount of pressure needed from the automatic Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device while sleeping decreasing some of the harmful effects of low oxygen in people with sleep apnea. This study will last 35 nights and involves spending three nights in the sleep lab at George Washington University. There are no additional costs to participants and no compensation for being involved in the study. Read Less

To achieve appropriate exposure for an anterior neck surgery (for example an Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion or ACDF), patients are positioned supine with their neck extended. Due to being in this position, patients frequently complain of posterior neck stiffness and pain postoperatively in addition to the anterior incisional pain. This posterior cervical pain can be classified as myofascial pain. Cervical myofascial pain is thought to be the result of overuse or trauma to the supporting muscles of the neck and shoulders. Trigger point injections are one of the methods used to treat myofascial pain. The trigger point injection procedure is where a physician (typically an anesthesiologist) performs an exam of the patient neck and upper back and finds areas of point tenderness. The physician will then inject a small amount of numbing medication (such as bupivacaine) into the muscle or tissue in that area. Trigger point injections have been shown to be superior to botox injections or dry needling, and equivalent to physical therapy. However, these studies were performed on patients with chronic neck pain. There are no studies evaluating the effectiveness of trigger point injections on post anterior cervical surgery patients. At our institution, trigger point injections with local anesthetic are used as part of a multimodal pain control regimen for post-anterior cervical surgery patients. Our hypothesis is if the addition of trigger point injections to standard of care multi-modal post-operative pain control will decrease patients' myofascial pain, and thereby decrease the amount of narcotic pain medication used. Read Less