5 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Nearly 80% of acute heart failure (AHF) patients admitted to the hospital are initially treated in the emergency department (ED). Once admitted, within 30 days post-discharge, 27% of patients are re-hospitalized or die. Attempts to improve outcomes with novel therapies have all failed. The evidence for existing AHF therapies are poor: No currently used AHF treatment is known to improve outcomes. ED treatment is largely the same today as 40 years ago. Congestion, such as difficulty breathing, weight gain, and leg swelling, is the primary reason why patients present to the hospital for AHF. Treating congestion is the cornerstone of AHF management. Yet half of all AHF patients leave the hospital inadequately decongested. Although it is the investigators' belief patients are often inadequately decongested in the ED, it is common teaching within emergency medicine to focus on vasodilators and avoid or minimize diuretics, especially in those patients with elevated blood pressure. This practice is largely driven by retrospective analyses or small studies suggesting vasodilators are efficacious and IV loop diuretics may be associated with harm. The evidence base to guide early ED management is poor, and the AHA/ACC guidelines provide little to no guidance for ED treatment. This reflects the lack of high quality data, a critical unmet need that the investigators will address in this study. Using clearance of LUS B-lines as the study endpoint, the investigators will study whether a diuretic intense vs. nitrate intense strategy achieves better decongestion. Although nearly two decades old, a small study of 100 patients suggested a nitrate intense strategy led to better outcomes in AHF patients with pulmonary edema when compared with a diuretic intense strategy. The investigators aim to perform a small pilot study, in hypertensive patients (SBP \> 140mmHg) to test such a strategy to inform a larger, more definitive multicenter randomized trial.
Nearly 80% of acute heart failure (AHF) patients admitted to the hospital are initially treated in the emergency department (ED). Once admitted, within 30 days post-discharge, 27% of patients are re-hospitalized or die. Attempts to improve outcomes with novel therapies have all failed. The evidence for existing AHF therapies are poor: No currently used AHF treatment is known to improve outcomes. ED treatment is largely the same today as 40 years ago. Congestion, such as difficulty breathing, weight gain, and leg swelling, is the primary reason why patients present to the hospital for AHF. Treating congestion is the cornerstone of AHF management. Yet half of all AHF patients leave the hospital inadequately decongested. The investigators propose a novel approach to aggressively decongest patients in the ED setting: lung ultrasound guided, protocol driven, AHF management. LUS B-lines are a measure of extra-vascular lung water (EVLW). In the setting of AHF, LUS B-lines are a measure of congestion. This simple, easily learned technique has excellent reliability and reproducibility. The investigators hypothesize that a strategy-of-care will outperform usual care. At the present time, usual care is largely empirical. This study will improve the evidence base for ED AHF management. This proposed pilot study, if successful, will lead to an outcome trial examining whether an ED AHF strategy-of-care increases days alive and out of the hospital for patients.
Heart failure (HF) is a disease that is caused by a reduced heart muscle function. Reduced heart muscle function can occur as a consequence of reduced pumping activity from a weak heart muscle or because of a stiff heart muscle. This study is looking at the effectiveness of Natrecor (nesiritide) in patients that require hospitalization due to worsening heart failure as a result of a stiff or thickened heart muscle. Natrecor is a man-made version of a protein that my body makes on its own and has been approved for the treatment of patients requiring hospital admission for heart failure and have shortness of breath at rest or with minimal activity. Natrecor has shown to lower the pressures in the heart and decreases the congestion in the lungs. This study is being done to see if the addition of a Natrecor to standard medical therapy for HF will improve symptoms faster or more completely than giving only the standard treatment for CHF.
This is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel group study to investigate the efficacy of pemziviptadil (PB1046) by improving the clinical outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients at high risk for rapid clinical deterioration, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. The study will enroll approximately 210 hospitalized COVID-19 patients who require urgent decision-making and treatment at approximately 20 centers in the United States.
The goal of this interventional crossover study, in intubated and mechanically ventilated Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients, is to compare two positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) titration techniques regarding: respiratory mechanics, gas exchange, changes in aeration, ventilation/perfusion matching its impact on cardiac function, especially the right heart (RH). The PEEP titration techniques are: PEEP selection based on low PEEP/high FiO2 table ("PEEPARDSnet") and lung recruitment maneuver (LRM) plus PEEPdec titration based on the best compliance of the respiratory system("PEEPLRM").