19 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Researchers want to better understand what happens to the heart when the autologous (from one's own body) stem cells are injected directly into muscle of the right side of the heart during the Fontan (Stage III) surgery. They want to see if there are changes in the electrical activity, the structure, and the function of the heart following this stem cell-based therapy. Researchers will compare the results from people who receive the stem cells to the results from people who do not receive the stem cells.
Aim #1: Define and determine the prevalence of pulmonary vascular disease and diastolic dysfunction as assessed by the gold standard of invasive hemodynamic cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Aim #2: Determine the role of rest-exercise echocardiography for the assessment hemodynamics in Fontan physiology. Aim #3: Evaluate the clinical impact of pulmonary vascular disease and ventricular diastolic dysfunction.
The purposes of this study are to identify indicators of vision problems and ocular abnormalities in patients with a Fontan circulation through a standardized questionnaire and to correlate the intraocular pressure measured with the Icare tonometer with central venous pressure measured with the VENUS 2000 CVP non-invasive system to determine whether intraocular pressure can be used as a surrogate measure of increased central venous pressure in patients with a Fontan circulation.
The purpose of this pilot study is to prepare for a larger study to determine whether Vasopressin following the Fontan operation will decrease chest tube output and duration.
The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of treprostinil (TRE) in the perioperative non-fenestrated, extracardiac Fontan patients in order to reduce duration of chest tube drainage (in days). The Fontan operation is performed for patients with single ventricle physiology as the final palliation to create a series circulation, with passive systemic venous return to the pulmonary arteries and the single ventricle solely providing systemic output. Patients undergoing extracardiac Fontan tend to have elevation of Fontan pressures immediately following the operation with inflammation from surgery requiring additional fluid administration to maintain blood pressure. Increased Fontan pressures and fluid overload lead to prolonged chest tube drainage. The hypothesis is that treprostinil, a prostacyclin drug that dilates the pulmonary arteries, will improve immediate postoperative Fontan pressures. Treprostinil is not FDA approved for this use. Anecdotally and in a small case series, prostacyclin therapy has been shown to assist in transitioning patients off nitric oxide. The investigators believe that this improvement in hemodynamics will decrease duration of chest tube drainage resulting in a shorter length of hospital stay.
The purpose of this study is to compare the liver stiffness, which can be caused by congestion and fibrosis in pediatric patients before and after a Fontan heart operation. A new form of ultrasound elastography (Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse, or ARFI) will measure liver stiffness.
Pleural effusions continue to be a post-operative complication seen after Fontan operation. This study will examine the use inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) given for 54 hours after Fontan operation to improve fluid balance. The study hypothesis is that inhaled nitric oxide after Fontan operation will improve fluid balance, thus decreasing the incidence of pleural effusions and shortening hospital stay.
The staged surgical pathway to treat children with single ventricle heart defects culminates with the Fontan operation. In this procedure, systemic venous return is rerouted directly to the pulmonary arteries, which serves to separate the systemic and pulmonary circulations. Although mortality following the Fontan operation is now uncommon, early postoperative morbidity including prolonged postoperative chest tube drainage and hospitalization remains significant. The efficacy of empiric inotropic, vasodilator and neurohumoral-inhibitory therapies in the perioperative period is unknown and practice varies widely between centers. The investigators will propose a single-center, randomized, double-blind, phase II clinical trial in children undergoing Fontan surgery. The investigators plan to compare the effects of perioperative nesiritide, milrinone and placebo infusions on the early postoperative clinical course and neurohumoral profile. The investigators hypothesize that, when compared to the milrinone and placebo groups, the nesiritide group will have more days alive and out of the hospital within the first 30 days after surgery.
Our aim is a retrospective chart review seeking to determine any differences in the main clinical and outcome variables as well as general outcome data such as functional recovery, readmission rates, somatic growth and mortality. An n size of 150 to 200 for each of the 2 groups will give us excellent power to detect potential differences.
To determine the pharmacokinetic profile and safety of udenafil in adolescents with Fontan physiology and to assess the short-term pharmacodynamic effect of udenafil on pharmacodynamic measures of exercise capacity, ventricular performance, and vascular function.
The study will investigate the cardiovascular effects of sildenafil on patients with Fontan circulation. Recent studies suggest that sildenafil may improve exercise in patients with Fontan circulation. However, why this occurs is not known. The study will used specialized catheters to measure pressure and volume. The measure of pressure and volume leads to more detailed analysis of heart function. Patients will receive either sugar pill or sildenafil prior to catheterization. It is believed that sildenafil will improve relaxation and contraction of the heart.
In this research study, the investigators will conduct a prospective cross-sectional study of pediatric and adult Fontan patients that will correlate a variety of quantitative MRI biomarkers with histopathologic data.
The goal of the Fontan Imaging Biomarkers (FIB) study is to identify the associations of blood and urine biomarkers to imaging parameters of ventricular mechanics.
The purpose of this study is to determine if children with heart disease where there is only one pumping chamber("ventricle") have proteins (biomarkers") in the blood that can be used to monitor the function of their heart.
This is an investigator initiated, prospective, single-center, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of post-operative low dose vasopressin infusions as an early treatment of low systemic perfusion in pediatric patients following Fontan palliation.
The investigators found that there is inflammation in the chest drainage in patients after the Fontan operation. The investigators want to test the theory that Colchicine, an anti- inflammatory medication, can decrease the inflammation in the chest tube drainage after the Fontan operation, and can decrease the amount of time that patients having this surgery will have drainage.
This study seeks to determine cerebral blood flow changes in single ventricle patients during staged surgical reconstruction as compared with normal children. Two general groups of single ventricle patients will be recruited for this study, corresponding to the two approaches used. An aged-match group of healthy subjects will be included as a control.
The purpose of this study is to determine the best red blood cell(hemoglobin) level for infants and children following surgical repair of particular heart defects. These children often receive red blood cell transfusions after surgery, but what the best hemoglobin level is for them remains unknown.
Clinical evidence reveals that some patients who undergo cardiac transplantation exhibit problems with pulmonary vascular resistance as well. In some studies, an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance has been used as an indicator for increased 3-day and 3-month mortality after heart transplantation2. In this study, the investigators would like to look at pulmonary vascular resistance in patients with a surgical history of the Fontan procedure followed by heart transplantation.