68 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Primary caregiver thoracic ultrasound (U/S) is a skill which is growing in utility in critical care. First introduced for volume assessment in nephrology and cardiology, it is now being researched in emergency and critical care. Data is still evolving in its use in initial trauma evaluation. Inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter correlates with outcome in trauma, but utility of its measurement on U/S in the emergency department still has some controversy. In trauma specifically, small studies suggests benefit to the use of U/S to predict volume status, and most of these data are from one author. It is not known if this can be applied more broadly. The prognostic value of findings on limited transthoracic echocardiogram (LTTE, SonoSite Ultrasound) has been studied in several small studies, and only one small randomized controlled trial has proven benefit to its use. Due to inter-rater reliability and the fact that all reports on credentialing of thoracic ultrasound use in the trauma bay are from one group, it is not known if it can be applied to all trauma populations. Research question: Does LTTE (SonoSite Ultrasound) predict mortality, emergency surgery, intensive care unit (ICU) stay, hospital stay, time on ventilator, number of transfusions, or renal failure as well as or better than other methods of organ perfusion? Hypotheses: 1. Use of LTTE is associated with improved outcomes (less organ failure, decreased hospital and ICU stays, transfusions, and mortality). 2. LTTE predicts mortality, emergency surgery, ICU stay, hospital stay, time on ventilator, number of and transfusions better than other methods of organ perfusion (tachycardia, hypotension, lactate, lactate clearance, creatinine, base deficit).
This study aims to evaluate the accuracy of the echocardiographic data obtained from patients with calcifications in the mitral valve who are undergoing a cardiac (heart) catheterization. Echocardiography is a non-invasive (does not break the skin) procedure used to see an image of the heart. It uses harmless sound waves to create an image of the heart on a computer screen. These images will show the valves of the heart, how well the heart is pumping blood, the blood flow across these valves and how large the heart is. A silver paddle-shaped device is moved easily over the skin to capture these images. Calcification (hardening) of the heart valves and heart rings (fibrous tissue surrounding the valves) is a common finding and it increases with age. The presence of calcification changes the blood flow through the heart valves. This makes any echocardiographic data (information) obtained from patients with calcifications difficult to interpret.
The goal of this observational study is to learn more about whether or not the use of heart ultrasound during pacemaker implantation is helpful. The main questions this aims to answer are: 1. Does this help the doctors with figuring out the wire location during implantation? 2. Does this reduce the wire placement procedure time? 3. Does this reduce the x-ray imaging time during the procedure? Participants will be asked to: 1. Have a physical exam and Echocardiogram (ECG) at initial visit, 2 weeks post implant, and 3 months post implant. 2. Have a urine pregnancy test (if applicable) 3. Have a heart ultrasound during implant procedure 4. Answer questions related to heart failure symptoms to see what stage of heart failure is present 5. Have device interrogation (a wand placed over the chest to see that the device is working properly) at a visit 2 weeks post implant and at 3 months post implant.
Non-significant risk device study to conduct evaluation of the performance of new device for monitoring of cardiac function (based on previous iterations 510(k) 173156)
This study will screen for the presence of cardiovascular disease and provide education about the signs and symptoms of cardiovascular disease and heart disease.
Clinical validation study of the MyoVista wavECG.
Young children with known or suspected heart disease frequently have difficulty cooperating with a clinically ordered echocardiogram. Current distraction techniques vary in efficacy. There have been no studies examining the use of animal assisted therapy to improve echocardiogram quality and completeness, as well as the patient/parent experience. Hypotheses: 1. The presence and interaction of therapy dogs with young children undergoing echocardiography in a clinical setting will result in more complete and higher quality echocardiograms compared to standard distraction techniques. 2. Parents will report higher visit satisfaction scores and greater exam comfort for their children for echocardiograms performed with the aid of canine assisted therapy compared to use of standard distraction techniques. Study Activities and Population Group: Pilot Phase: Introduction of trained therapy dogs (approved by the Pets at Duke Therapy Program) for 10 echocardiograms to observe canine-patient interactions and determine best practices for inclusion of dog/handler team into the echocardiogram protocol. Study Phase: 150 subjects ages will be selected from all children ages 1 to 5 years presenting for clinically ordered echocardiograms during the study time period. Subjects will be assigned into one of three groups: 1) Canine assisted therapy only; 2) Canine assisted therapy plus standard distraction techniques; and 3) Standard distraction techniques only. Echocardiography reviewers will be blinded to subject study group and will assign quality and completeness score based on validated criteria. Parental satisfaction will be assessed using validated survey tools. Data analysis and risk/safety issues: All subjects will be assigned a random subject ID, with the only link to PHI stored in a Duke Redcap database. Statistical testing will be performed with the assistance of Tracy Spears (biostatistician in DCRI) who has assisted with development of testing tools. There are no physical risks associated with the echocardiogram portion of the study, and very minimal risks with the therapy dog portion of the study. Please see "Pets at Duke" policy included in study documents. There is a potential loss of confidentiality, although the only link between subject ID and PHI will be stored in a Duke Recap database.
A new hand held pocket echo device (GE Vscan) has now become available to clinicians, with limited data available comparing the effectiveness of this device as a screening tool when compared to traditional transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The investigators are evaluating the effectiveness of this hand-held echo (HHE) device in detecting cardiac pathology in a both an inpatient and outpatient clinical setting as compared to a comprehensive TTE evaluation.
This study is an international, prospective, multi-centred, investigator blinded, randomized control trial of an educational and feedback-based intervention vs. usual care to study the proportion of inappropriate TTEs ordered by clinicians in ambulatory care. The American College of Cardiology collaborated with the American Society of Echocardiography to develop its Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) for Echocardiography in 2007, and were updated in 2011. We created an innovative education and feedback-based intervention that we hypothesize will reduce the proportion of inappropriate TTEs ordered in clinical practice. Our objective is to prospectively study the following intervention in a multicentre, randomized control trial format to determine if this intervention will reduce inappropriate TTEs and the number of TTEs ordered in practice. The study will take place at multiple hospitals in Canada the United States. Participants include cardiologists and primary care providers (both general internal medicine and family practice) who provide ambulatory care. Once cardiologists and primary care physicians are recruited for the study, they will be randomized into one of two arms: 1) Intervention group, 2) Control group. A physician's TTE ordering information will be ascertained by review of the individual TTE order and by review of the patient's medical record. Trained research coordinators at each site will review the TTE order for indication and review the patient record to ascertain clinical circumstances regarding the TTE order. The individual research coordinator will review this information using the 2011 AUC and classify the TTE as Appropriate (A), Inappropriate (I) or Uncertain (U), and assign the TTE order the most appropriate indication number accordingly. Research Coordinators will be blinded to which physicians are in the intervention or control group. Research Coordinators at each site will be responsible for individual physicians' TTE order classifications but will be blinded to study group. Once monthly TTE orders are classified and collated, this information will be transmitted to the central research laboratory, where a research coordinator will collate all of the results and transmit monthly feedback reports to individual physicians. The control group will order TTEs as is their usual practice.
The utilization of transthoracic echocardiography in the United States has been increasing. This has resulted in increased costs to the healthcare system. In an effort to curb excessive utilization of this technology, the American College of Cardiology created Appropriate Use Criteria to help guide clinicians to use this diagnostic imaging modality more appropriately. The investigators previously showed that an educational intervention can reduce the rate of inappropriate echocardiograms ordered by physicians-in-training. It is unknown if such an intervention would be successful in attending, staff level of physicians. The investigators hypothesize that an educational and feedback intervention will reduce the rate of inappropriate outpatient transthoracic echocardiograms ordered by staff cardiologists and internal medicine physicians.
It is well documented that the proportion of inappropriate transthoracic echocardiograms (TTEs) is highest in the ambulatory environment, where it has been reported as high as 30%. Therefore, the potential to improve TTE utilization may be greatest in the outpatient setting. However, no study to date has evaluated whether an Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC)-based educational intervention can reduce inappropriate TTEs in this setting. The investigators therefore designed the first randomized control trial of an AUC-based educational and feedback intervention aimed at reducing inappropriate outpatient TTEs ordered by cardiology and internal medicine physicians in training.
The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of cardiac CT versus TEE in endocarditis patients.
The purpose of this study is to compare Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) Imaging with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in detecting the presence of LAA thrombi in men and women with atrial fibrillation presenting for cardioversion.
Echocardiography is an ultrasound-based imaging technique which can be performed through the esophagus (which lies behind the heart) and through the chest wall; both TEE and TTE are performed routinely as a monitoring and diagnostic tool at different times in the course of one cardiac surgery. The purpose of the study is to compare these two methods of echocardiography and comparing them to the 2D TEE and TTE assessments, which are routinely performed simultaneously. The study will also compare the echocardiography data to a third technique, thermodilution, which measures cardiac function via a pulmonary artery catheter.
The primary objectives of this study are (i) to select an oral modified release (MR) formulation and dose of omecamtiv mecarbil for chronic twice daily (BID) dosing in adults with heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction and (ii) to characterize its pharmacokinetics (PK) over 20 weeks of treatment.
This trial is a pilot-scale, single institution randomized, placebo-controlled trial to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of administering dapagliflozin for cardiovascular risk reduction in the postpartum period. The target population is patients at high risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes within five years post-delivery. Eligible participants will be randomized to receive either: 1) dapagliflozin (10mg daily) for six months (DAPA group) or 2) an orally administered, daily placebo (Control group). The study hypothesizes: The dapagliflozin group will have higher cardiovascular risk reduction scores than the Control Group.
The purpose of this research is to study digital health interventions to prevent cardiovascular disease in individuals who have had a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP).
This is a prospective pilot study to evaluate changes before and 4 weeks after beta-blocker withdrawal in 30 HFpEF patients.
To determine whether an integrated AI decision support can save time and improve accuracy of assessment of echocardiograms, the investigators are conducting a blinded, randomized controlled study of AI guided measurements of left ventricular ejection fraction compared to sonographer measurements in preliminary readings of echocardiograms.
Despite rapidly advancing developments in targeted therapeutics and genetic sequencing, persistent limits in the accuracy and throughput of clinical phenotyping has led to a widening gap between the potential and the actual benefits realized by precision medicine. Recent advances in machine learning and image processing techniques have shown that machine learning models can identify features unrecognized by human experts and more precisely/accurately assess common measurements made in clinical practice. The investigators have developed an algorithm, termed EchoNet-LVH, to identify cardiac hypertrophy and identify patients who would benefit from additional screening for cardiac amyloidosis and will prospectively evaluate its accuracy in identifying patients whom would benefit from additional screening for cardiac amyloidosis.
The goal of this study is to learn more about how a nutritional supplement "ketone ester" (deltaG ®) has an effect on brain and heart function and on alcohol consumption in individuals with and without alcohol use disorder. The study will use Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) scans after a single dose of ketone ester or Placebo in 10 people with alcohol use disorder and 10 healthy control volunteers.
Studying the causal roles of components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (including angiotensin-(1-7) (Ang-(1-7)), angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), Ang II, and ACE), uric acid, and klotho in pediatric hypertension and related target organ injury, including in the heart, kidneys, vasculature, and brain. Recruiting children with a new hypertension diagnosis over a 2-year period from the Hypertension and Pediatric Nephrology Clinics affiliated with Brenner Children's Hospital at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and Atrium Health Levine Children's Hospital. Healthy control participants will be recruited from local general primary care practices. Collecting blood and urine samples to analyze components of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (Ang-(1-7), ACE2, Ang II, ACE), uric acid, and klotho, and measuring blood pressure, heart structure and function, autonomic function, vascular function, and kidney function at baseline, year 1, and year 2. Objectives are to investigate phenotypic and treatment response variability and to causally infer if Ang-(1-7), ACE2, Ang II, ACE, uric acid, and klotho contribute to target organ injury due to hypertension.
Participants scheduled for for an echocardiogram (echo) and being evaluated for, or is positive for COVID-19 will be asked if they would be willing to have their echo done using a new software program on one of the hand-held ultrasound scanners. The new software program guides the investigator, or any other non-sonographer, to take the best possible pictures of the participants heart. The prior version of this software is already being used clinically and is FDA approved. The main reason for using the updated version is that it's faster and better in terms of guiding the user.
To characterize the physiological signals collected from a Wearable Cardiac Monitor (WCM) prototype device in subjects with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and compare against signals from subjects with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). To evaluate the relationship of physiological signals measured from a wearable cardiac monitor (WCM) prototype device with ECHO measures of systolic and diastolic function
Definity (perflutren lipid microspheres, Lantheus Medical Imaging) is an ultrasound contrast indicated for use in patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to opacify the left ventricular chamber and to improve the delineation of the left ventricular endocardial border. MVT-100 (the investigational pharmaceutical) is similar to Definity, with the exception of the removal of one lipid in the lipid blend and substitution of another lipid. This study is intended to evaluate the safety and efficacy of MVT-100 using a single ascending dose design in healthy volunteers. Patients are randomized to receive either MVT-100 or Definity and undergo echocardiograms after receiving either MVT-100 or Definity via bolus or IV infusion administration. The primary endpoints evaluated are safety and endocardial border delineation.
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), very common in preterm infants, is the delayed closure of a fetal blood vessel that limits blood flow through the lungs. PDA is associated with mortality and harmful long term outcomes including chronic lung disease and neurodevelopmental delay. Although, treatments to close PDA likely benefit some infants, widespread routine treatment of all preterm infants with PDA may not improve important outcomes. Left untreated, most PDAs close spontaneously. Thus, PDA treatment is increasingly controversial and varies markedly between hospitals and individual providers. The relevant and still unanswered clinical question is not whether to treat all preterm infants with PDA, but whom to treat and when. Treatment detriments may outweigh benefits, since all forms of deliberate PDA closure have potential adverse effects, especially in infants destined for early, spontaneous PDA closure. Unfortunately, clinicians cannot currently predict in the 1st month which infants are at highest risk for persistent PDA, and which combination of clinical risk factors, echocardiographic (echo) measurements, and serum biomarkers may best predict PDA-associated harm. The American Academy of Pediatrics has acknowledged early identification of infants at high-risk from PDA as a key research goal for informing future PDA-treatment effectiveness trials. Our objective is to use a prospective cohort of untreated infants with PDA to predict spontaneous ductal closure timing and identify echo measurements and biomarkers that are present in the 1st postnatal month and associated with long-term impairment. Our central hypothesis is that these risk factors can be determined to inform appropriate clinical treatments when necessary. Clinical, serum and urine biomarkers (BNP, NTpBNP, NGAL, H-FABP), and echo variables sequentially collected during each of the first 4 postnatal weeks will be examined. In addition myocardial deformation imaging (MDI) and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), innovative echo methods, will facilitate the quantitative evaluation of myocardial performance. Aim 1 will estimate the probability of spontaneous PDA closure and predict the timing of ductal closure using echo, biomarker, and clinical predictors. Aim 2 will specify which echo predictors and biomarkers are associated with mortality and severity of respiratory illness at 36-weeks PMA. Aim 3 will identify which echo predictors and biomarkers are associated with 22- to 26-month neurodevelopment. All models will be validated in a separate cohort. This project will significantly contribute to clinical outcomes and PDA management by reducing unnecessary and harmful overtreatment of infants with a high probability of early spontaneous PDA closure, and will permit the development of outcomes-focused trials to examine the effectiveness of PDA closure in those "high-risk" infants most likely to receive benefit.
The rate of fluid removal (ultrafiltration, UF) during hemodialysis (HD) may contribute to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among individuals receiving maintenance HD. More rapid UF rates are associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Ultrafiltration profiling, the practice of varying UF rates to maximize fluid removal during periods of greatest hydration and plasma oncotic pressures, is one treatment modification that may reduce UF-related harm without necessitating reduction in interdialytic fluid intake or longer HD treatments. To date, UF profiling has not been adequately studied independent of sodium profiling. This study investigates the comparative effect of UF profiling versus non-profiled conventional HD on select cardiovascular and patient-reported outcomes. Participants will complete two phases of UF profiling and two phases of conventional HD and will act as their own controls.
To determine whether treatment with sacubitril/valsartan provides a superior effect on aortic characteristic impedance compared to enalapril in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (left ventricular ejection fraction \[LVEF\] ≤ 40%) after 12 weeks of treatment. The primary endpoint is the change in aortic characteristic impedance (Zc = dP/dQ in early systole) between baseline and Week 12.
The study aims to answer whether the use of a mixture of blood and saline alone (limited air) provides the same degree of right-heart contrast enhancement as compared to the standard agitated saline (with air), during two types of echocardiograms.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if heart function remains normal after stopping heart failure medication in patients who have received chemotherapy.