All Clinical Trials

Pentoxifylline (PTX) is a medication that has been on the market since 1984 for use in disease in the blood vessels of the legs. There is some preliminary information that it may protect the kidneys from damage due to diabetes and other diseases. "Pentoxifylline in Diabetic Kidney Disease" is a study to bee conducted in 40 VA hospitals across the nation to determine definitively whether or not PTX can prevent worsening of kidney disease and delay death in patients with diabetic kidney disease. Read Less

1. Elucidate the influence of intense light therapy pretreatment in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We hypothesize that intense light exposure is associated with the peripheral stabilization of Per2 in human buccal swabs and plasma samples before surgery and with a decrease of Troponin I levels after surgery. In addition, we hypothesize that light therapy leads to Per2 dependent metabolic optimization in the human cardiac tissue. Therefore, a small piece of human heart tissue from the right atrium will be collected during cardiac cannulation, which will be otherwise discarded. 2. Critical illness (being in the intensive care unit) results in circadian malfunction and vessels not working. Vessel function is controlled by the body's circadian clock. Intense light boosts the circadian clock and the vessel function in animal studies. Vessels not working well in critical ill patients results in a myriad of severe diseases (delirium, stroke, heart attack, organ damage etc). Thus we will test if intense light can be used to boost the circadian clock and the associated vessel function in critical ill patients. Read Less

Exoskeleton-assisted walking (EAW) provides a new mobility option and appears to have potential therapeutic benefits for persons with SCI. However, present day technology is not sufficient to replace the wheelchair. During EAW, users stand upright, maintain static and dynamic balance by actively and passively stimulating trunk and lower limb muscles in a manner not challenged during wheelchair use. Preliminary results in our laboratory suggest that the indirect balance challenges and postural perturbations that result during EAW training transfer to better seated balance control, resulting in more independence during seated activities. The purpose of this pilot study is to determine the effects of EAW training on various measures of seated balance (primary outcomes) and body composition (secondary outcomes). Twenty people with SCI (T4 and below) who are wheelchair users for mobility and cannot walk independently will be recruited. The participants will receive 36 sessions of EAW training in 12 weeks. The outcomes will be evaluated pre (baseline) and post (24 and 36 sessions). If EAW devices can be demonstrated to help people with SCI have better seated balance, in addition to the other potential benefits that are being investigated elsewhere, then exoskeletons may have the possibility to be more readily accepted in the clinical, home environments, and by the insurance companies. Read Less

The goal of this study is to investigate the association between response to pain and opioid craving in people with opioid use disorder. In this study, adults with opioid use disorder will be randomized to one of two brief education sessions followed by an assessment of response to pain. Investigators will test the association between response to pain and opioid craving. Read Less

Endocrine therapy (ET) is widely used to treat hormone receptor positive breast cancer and prevent recurrence by downregulating estrogen function. However, ETs readily cross the blood brain barrier and interfere with the action of estrogen in the brain. Estrogen supports cognition and menopausal status is closely linked to cognitive health in women. This has raised concern that anti-estrogen ETs may affect cognition and brain health in breast cancer survivors. However, evidence across existing studies is inconsistent and these effects remain poorly understood. The incomplete understanding of the effects of ET are likely due to limitations of earlier studies - namely, the under-appreciation of the role of menopausal status and insensitivity of standard cognitive measures. This research project will address these earlier limitations by specifically comparing ET effects by menopausal status, and using highly sensitive, task-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measures to assess the effects of ET on brain function. Read Less

This early phase I trial studies how well a behavioral weight loss intervention consisting of a smartphone application and coaching works for the promotion of weight loss in adolescents and young adults after a stem cell transplant. This study may help researchers learn more about how adolescents and young adults can lose weight and develop healthy eating habits. Read Less

Background: Hereditary hearing loss is one of the most common sensory disabilities affecting newborns. The main options for people with hereditary hearing loss are hearing aids and cochlear implants. Both options have their limitations and do not restore biological hearing. Researchers want to learn if gene editing might be a treatment option. Objective: To understand the genes that cause non-syndromic autosomal dominant hearing loss (DFNA) in people with DFNA as well as their family members. Eligibility: People age 3 99 who have DFNA, affected family members of enrolled participants with DFNA, and unaffected family members of enrolled participants Design: Participants will be screened with a medical and hearing history. Their medical records will be reviewed. Participants will have hearing tests. They will wear headphones or earplugs. They will listen to tones, sounds, and words and may be asked to describe what they hear. Participants will have balance tests. For these, they will wear googles as they watch moving lights or as cold or warm air is blown into their ears. They will sit in a spinning chair in a quiet, dark booth. From a reclined position, they will raise their head while listening to clicking sounds. Participants will have blood drawn through a needle in the arm. Some blood will be used for gene testing. Some participants will have 2 skin biopsies. The skin will be washed, and a numbing medicine will be injected. Two small pieces of skin will be removed. Participants may have a physical exam. Participation will last for up to 20 years. Participants may give medical updates once a year. Read Less

The 24/7 EEG™ SubQ system will be compared to simultaneously recorded video-EEG in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (gold standard) and to self-reported seizure log books throughout 12 weeks of outpatient EEG recording. The present study is a 12-week open-label, prospective study with a paired, comparative design for pivotal evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of the 24/7 EEGTM SubQ system in subjects with epilepsy involving the temporal lobe region . 2-5 sites in Europe Up to 10 sites in US Read Less

The primary objective of this study is to establish a mechanism to obtain discarded bone marrow-containing bone samples from hemoglobinopathy, as well as non-hemoglobinopathy individuals. The processing of samples will help to understand how best to manipulate HSPC's from hemoglobinopathy patients with gene therapy and gene technologies in the laboratory environment. It will also allow us to establish a reservoir of samples that can be studied in the future to assess cellular function and fitness for transplant. Secondary objectives * To develop gene transfer and gene editing strategies as potentially curative therapy for hemoglobinopathies (e.g. sickle cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia). * To develop a drug treatment strategy which elevates the expression of fetal hemoglobin to a potentially curative level for hemoglobinopathies. * To examine the biology of bone marrow cells isolated from patients with hemoglobinopathies. Read Less

This phase II trial studies the effect of brentuximab vedotin and nivolumab alone and in combination with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone in treating patients with untreated, stage I-IV primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma. Brentuximab vedotin is a monoclonal antibody, called brentuximab, linked to a toxic agent, called vedotin. Brentuximab is a form of targeted therapy because it attaches to specific molecules (receptors) on the surface of cancer cells, known as CD30 receptors, and delivers vedotin to kill them. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Rituximab is a type of antibody therapy, which targets and attaches to the CD20 protein found on the surface of blood cells with cancer and some healthy blood cells. Chemotherapy drugs, such as cyclophosphamide, and doxorubicin, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, or by stopping them from dividing. Prednisone is a steroid, a hormone (chemical messengers) with multiple roles, notably in the immune system and inflammation reduction. Steroids are poisonous to lymphocytes (white blood cells from which lymphomas develop). Giving brentuximab vedotin and nivolumab in combination with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone may help to control the disease and be a less harmful regimen than standard chemotherapy in patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma. Read Less

The purpose of the research is to characterize the effect of labetalol, atenolol, and nifedipine on maternal hemodynamics early in pregnancy. Patients will be given medication based on their hemodynamics and asked to return for a repeat measurement. Read Less

This study evaluates how new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and artificial intelligence techniques improve the image quality and quantitative information for future prostate MRI exams in patients with suspicious of confirmed prostate cancer. The MRI and artificial intelligence techniques developed in this study may improve the accuracy in diagnosing prostate cancer in the future using less invasive techniques than what is currently used. Read Less