Maryland Paid Clinical Trials

This study is designed to evaluate the genetics involved in the development of lung disease by surveying genes involved in the process of breathing and examining the genes in lung cells of patients with lung disease. The study will focus on defining the distribution of abnormal genes responsible for processes directly involved in different diseases affecting the lungs of patients and healthy volunteers. Optional CT Sub-study The standard CT scan will be compared to the low dose radiation CT scan for the 150 subjects enrolled in the sub-study to assess the variation between the two techniques. Specifically, the quantitative computer aided detection of lung CT abnormalities from LAM can be compared to assess whether low radiation dose CT exams is an alternative to conventional CT to monitor disease status. This optional sub-study will be offered to up to 100 adult subjects with lung disease and up to 50 children age 9 and older with CF. Children will not be enrolled in the optional CT sub-study unless they have had a standard CT scan for medical purposes to use in comparison. One additional low dose radiation CT scan of the chest may be done as part of this sub-study when these subjects have their next annual CT scan. Read Less

The purpose of this research study is to look at genes and determine how they interact with each other to find changes that could explain why some people's immune systems may respond to blood transfusions. This response is called an alloimmune response. We strongly believe that when someone has an alloimmune response, it is caused by changes in their genes. We plan to compare changes in the genes of individuals that develop red blood cell alloimmunization after blood transfusions with those that do not develop alloimmunization. This may help us to create more targeted therapeutic interventions, which may improve the health of alloimmune responders. Read Less

This study will assess whether a quantitative, HER2 assay can accurately and reliably discriminate between responders and non-responders among patients with HER2 IHCI+ metastatic breast cancer who are receiving T-Dxd. Read Less

Over 50% of the Veterans enrolled for VA health care are over the age of 65. Dementia prevalence increases with age, and with the increase in the population of people ages 65 and older, the total number of people with dementia is also increasing. Older Veterans often have comorbid PTSD, major depression and traumatic brain injury so that they are at 2 to 5 times the risk for cognitive impairment and dementia compared to the general population. There is evidence that exercise interventions in sedentary older adults could improve both physical and cognitive function. However, there have been very few studies on the effects of exercise on cognition in older Veterans and do not reflect the broader ethnic and health-status diversity of Veterans. Thus, improved knowledge of the role of exercise on cognition as well as the predictive power of biomarkers could have a major beneficial impact on Veterans' functional independence and quality of life. The investigators hypothesize that participation in the VA Gerofit exercise program will improve cognitive function in older Veterans and that blood and muscle biomarkers will predict these improvements. Read Less

Home optical coherence tomography- guided treatment versus treat and extend for the management of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to learn about how well the 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (20vPnC) works against radiologically-confirmed community-acquired pneumonia (RAD+CAP) due to the 7 new serotypes (types of a bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae that cause pneumonia) included in 20vPnC vaccine. This study is seeking participants who: * are male or female ≥65 years of age. * are hospitalized with physician suspicion of community acquired pneumonia (CAP). * have pneumonia confirmed with imaging like a chest x-ray Participants will be asked to provide demographic and medical history information, and to provide a urine sample that will be used to test for pneumonia caused by specific strains of a bacteria called Streptococcus pneumoniae. We will compare the proportion of participants who have pneumonia caused by specific strains of the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae and were previously vaccinated with 20vPnC with the proportion of participants who have pneumonia caused by something other than vaccine type Streptococcus pneumoniae and have been vaccinated with 20vPnC. Participants will actively take part in the study for about 1-2 days. Information on participant's illness and hospitalization details will be collected through day 30 of their hospitalization through medical chart review. Read Less

Vitrectomy to remove an epiretinal membrane (ERM) is one of the most common procedures performed by retinal surgeons. Patients who present with significant macular changes on optical coherence tomography (OCT) but relatively good vision are often advised to defer surgery until vision declines to 20/40 or worse. However, it is unknown if delaying surgery, which allows the foveal architecture to remain compromised and potentially to deteriorate, results in worse visual acuity outcomes than if surgery is performed earlier. In addition, there is a need to better understand predictors of outcomes when surgery is performed and predictors of progression when surgery is deferred. Finally, one of the most common presenting symptoms from an ERM is distortion or metamorphopsia. There are several objective measures of metamorphopsia but none have ever been employed to evaluate ERMs in a randomized clinical trial (RCT) and their usefulness is unknown. The purposes of this study are to better understand the optimal timing of surgery to produce the best visual result, to better understand predictors of outcomes in those who undergo surgery and predictors of progression in those whose are observed, and to better characterize and evaluate the usefulness of metamorphopsia and reading speed measures. Read Less

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental syndrome. Researchers think brain development may be controlled by gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). They want to learn how abnormalities in the GABA system may contribute to ASD. Objective: To see if repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) creates short-term changes in how different parts of the brain communicate. Eligibility: Right-handed people ages 11-17 with ASD, and healthy volunteers ages 18-25. Design: Participants will be screened with: Medical history Physical exam Medicine review Neurological exam Psychological tests and rating scales Forms and surveys. Participants will have a hearing test and ear exam. Participants will have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. They will lie on a table that moves in and out of the MRI scanner. They may look at a screen while in the scanner. A coil will be placed over their head. Participants will have magnetic resonance spectroscopy. It takes pictures of chemicals in the brain using the MRI scanner. Participants will have magnetoencephalography. They will sit in a chair. A helmet with magnetic field sensors will be placed on their head. Participants will have TMS. A wire coil will be held on their scalp. A brief electrical current will pass through the coil. Participants will have electromyography. Sticky pad electrodes will be placed on the skin during TMS. The electrical activity of their muscles will be measured. Participants will have rTMS. It uses short bursts of magnetic pulses to affect brain activity. ASD participants may have visits scheduled as often as 1 time a week or as far apart as 2 months based on the participants or study team's availability. Healthy volunteers will have 3 visits over 3-4 weeks.... Read Less

This randomized trial will evaluate the effect of fenofibrate compared with placebo for prevention of diabetic retinopathy (DR) worsening through 6 years of follow-up in eyes with mild to moderately severe non-proliferative DR (NPDR) and no CI-DME at baseline. In addition to evaluating efficacy, this study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a model for ophthalmologists to prescribe or collaborate with a primary care provider such as an internist/endocrinologist to prescribe and monitor the drug safely. If this study demonstrates that fenofibrate is effective for reducing the onset of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) or and the results are adopted by the community of retina specialists, a new strategy to prevent vision threatening complications of diabetes could be widely adopted. Widespread use of an oral agent effective at reducing worsening of DR would decrease the numbers of patients who undergo more invasive and much more expensive treatment for DR and who are consequently at risk for side effects that adversely affect visual function. This study will also assess the relationship of glycemic variability, as measured by continuous glucose monitoring with DR outcomes. Ancillary studies will characterize functional and structural outcomes in this cohort. Read Less

Background: While the intensive care of patients with life-threatening brain illnesses has advanced tremendously, a large number of therapies are still without proper scientific support. This can be partly explained by the fact that mechanisms of initial brain injury are still not well understood. Why additional neurological injury occurs during a patient's stay in the NeuroCritical Care Unit (NCCU) despite current best, evidence-based clinical practices, is also not well understood. However, over the past decade, better tools have become available to measure and monitor the impact of our clinical care on the rapidly changing physiology and chemistry of the injured brain. Some of these tools are CT, MRI, ultrasound, and catheter-based technology measuring blood flow and metabolism. These tools have enabled earlier detection of injury and complications and newer therapeutic strategies. Purpose: Examine disease pathways common to all brain injuries seen in the University of Maryland's 22-bed NCCU. Life-threatening neurological illnesses cared for in the NCCU include massive stroke, bleeding in and around the brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, subdural hemorrhage, intraventricular hemorrhage), brain tumors, difficult to control seizures, neurologic infections, nerve and muscle diseases (such as myasthenia gravis or Guillain-Barre Syndrome), and spinal cord disorders among others. Many NCCU patients are comatose or paralyzed and may suffer injuries in other parts of the body as well. This effort will require the creation of a robust clinical database for the capture of data including patient characteristics (age, sex), clinical characteristics, medical treatments, surgical interventions, physiological data (such as vital signs, cerebral blood flow, intracranial pressure, cerebral oximetry, etc), laboratory data, and standard-of-care diagnostic studies such as electroencephalography (EEG), ultrasound, CT, MRI, and angiograms. Similar databases exist at other major centers for neurocritical care and have been instrumental to the identification of characteristics both predictive of and associated with outcomes of patients long after their stay in the NCCU. In addition, the samples collected will be included in the University of Maryland Medicine (UMM) Biorepository which is a shared resource to enable biomedical research by University of Maryland faculty. Read Less

This feasibility trial studies how well daratumumab in combination with dose-adjusted etoposide, prednisone, vincristine sulfate, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin hydrochloride (DA-EPOCH) works in treating patients with newly diagnosed stage I-IV plasmablastic lymphoma. Plasmablastic lymphoma cells have high levels of a protein called CD38. Daratumumab is a monoclonal antibody that specifically targets CD38 expressing cells, and may help the body's immune system attack the cancer and interfere with the ability of cancer cells to grow and spread. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as etoposide, prednisone, vincristine sulfate, cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin hydrochloride, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving daratumumab may enhance the effectiveness of a standard chemotherapy (DA-EPOCH) in patients with plasmablastic lymphoma. Read Less

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important non-invasive tool to study and diagnose cardiovascular disease. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields and radio waves to create pictures of body organs. Researchers want to find better MRI methods and new ways of imaging cardiovascular disease and better understand normal and abnormal cardiovascular and brain function. Researchers are also interested in seeing if gadolinium, the commonly used MRI contrast agent, stays in the body long after the MRI was performed. Objectives: To develop new methods for imaging the heart and other organs of the body. To describe cardiovascular diseases using newer MRI methods To look at the relationship between cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors and other organ systems To look for gadolinium deposits in the brain from prior exams. Eligibility: Healthy people and people with known or suspected cardiovascular disease ages 7 and older may be eligible for this study. Researchers may be particularly interested in those who: * Have suspected or known cardiovascular disease * Were previously exposed to a gadolinium-based contrast agent, * Need to have a heart MRI scheduled * Need a test of the heart or other body part or will be undergoing a future cardiac catheterization Design: There are multiple arms to the study with optional components; therefore, there are multiple variations as to what an individual participant s experience may involve. Participants will have an MRI scan lasting up to 2 hours. The scanner is a large hollow tube. During the scan, there may be loud knocking and buzzing sounds caused by the scanner. Participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of the tube. Their vital signs may be monitored. Participants may have a test of heart electrical activity using wires connected to pads on the skin. Participants may have blood drawn. Participants may be injected with an MRI contrast agent through a plastic tube inserted in the arm. Read Less