5 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Background: * Tumors depend on blood vessels to provide the nourishment that allows them to grow. * Thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal gland and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are among the tumors that contain the most blood vessels. Thus, endocrine tumors are important for the study of new blood vessel formation in tumors. Objectives: -To obtain tissues from endocrine tumors for examination to determine how they differ from normal tissue. Eligibility: -Patients who are scheduled for surgery to remove an endocrine tumor, those in or around the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal gland, pancreas, or any neuroendocrine tissue. Design: * Tissues will be obtained from patients during surgery to remove thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, pancreas, or neuroendocrine tumors. * About 400 patients will be enrolled in the study over a period of 5 years.
This study will examine whether the drug ranibizumab is an effective treatment for macular telangiectasia, a condition in which existing blood vessels near the macula (the back part of the eye responsible for sharp central vision) become dilated and twisted, and new abnormal blood vessels may form under the retina. Both the existing dilated vessels, as well the new subretinal vessels can leak fluid and blood, distort the retina, and affect vision. This study will see if ranibizumab can slow or stop the leakage and growth of existing, dilated, macular vessels in cases where new vessel formation under the retina is absent. Patients 18 years of age and older who have macular telangiectasia without new blood vessel formation may be eligible for this study. Visual acuity must be 20/40 or worse. Participants receive at least four injections of ranibizumab into the eye over a 12-week period. After the fourth injection, additional injections may be given every 4 weeks for up to 1 year if the doctor determines that they may be of benefit. In addition to ranibizumab treatment, patients undergo the following procedures: * Medical history and physical examination. * Eye examination, including dilation of the pupils and measurement of the fluid pressure in the eye. * Fluorescein angiogram: A yellow dye is injected into an arm vein and travels to the blood vessels in the eyes. Photographs of the retina are taken with a special camera that flashes a blue light into the eye. The photos show whether any dye has leaked from the vessels into the retina. * Indocyanine green angiography: This procedure identifies feeder vessels that may be supplying the abnormal blood vessels. The test is similar to fluorescein angiography, but uses a green dye and flashes an invisible light. * Autofluorescence imaging: This test examines how well the retina functions. The back of the eye is photographed with a bright light. * Optical coherence tomography: This test measures retinal thickness. A light shined into the eye produces cross-sectional pictures of the retina. The measurements are repeated during the study to determine if retinal thickening is getting better or worse, or staying the same. * Stereoscopic color fundus photography: The pupils are dilated and special photographs of the inside of the eye are taken to evaluate the retina and measure changes that occur over time. The camera flashes a bright light into the eye for each picture. * Follow-up visits: The doctor evaluates the effects of the study treatment before and after each injection. Patients are contacted by phone 3 days after each injection to check on any treatment side effects. A final follow-up visit is scheduled 8 weeks after the last treatment.
This study will examine whether the drug ranibizumab is an effective treatment for macular telangiectasia, a condition in which existing blood vessels near the macula (the back part of the eye responsible for sharp central vision) become dilated and twisted, and new abnormal blood vessels may form under the retina. Both the existing dilated vessels, as well the new subretinal vessels can leak fluid and blood, distort the retina, and affect vision. This study will see if ranibizumab can slow or stop the leakage and growth of new vessels forming under the retina. Patients 18 years of age and older who have macular telangiectasia in both eyes and new blood vessel formation under the retina in at least one eye may be eligible for this study. Visual acuity must be 20/40 or worse. Participants receive at least four injections of ranibizumab into the eye over a 12-week period. After the fourth injection, additional injections may be given every 4 weeks for up to 1 year if the doctor determines that they may be of benefit. In addition to ranibizumab treatment, patients undergo the following procedures: * Medical history and physical examination. * Eye examination, including dilation of the pupils and measurement of the fluid pressure in the eye. * Fluorescein angiogram: A yellow dye is injected into an arm vein and travels to the blood vessels in the eyes. Photographs of the retina are taken with a special camera that flashes a blue light into the eye. The photos show whether any dye has leaked from the vessels into the retina. * Indocyanine green angiography: This procedure identifies feeder vessels that may be supplying the abnormal blood vessels. The test is similar to fluorescein angiography, but uses a green dye and flashes an invisible light. * Autofluorescence imaging: This test examines how well the retina functions. The back of the eye is photographed with a bright light. * Optical coherence tomography: This test measures retinal thickness. A light shined into the eye produces cross-sectional pictures of the retina. The measurements are repeated during the study to determine if retinal thickening is getting better or worse, or staying the same. * Stereoscopic color fundus photography: The pupils are dilated and special photographs of the inside of the eye are taken to evaluate the retina and measure changes that occur over time. The camera flashes a bright light into the eye for each picture. * Follow-up visits: The doctor evaluates the effects of the study treatment before and after each injection. Patients are contacted by phone 3 days after each injection to check on any treatment side effects. A final follow-up visit is scheduled 8 weeks after the last treatment.
This study will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine and compare changes in blood flow and blood volume in the brains of normal volunteers and patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Patients with MS-an inflammatory disease that attacks the brain and spine-may have new blood vessel formation (called angiogenesis) within the brain that may or may not contribute to the disease or help in repairing the brain. It is not known if these new vessels behave in the same way as the naturally occurring vessels. MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to generate brain images that provide information on brain chemistry, function, and blood flow. The results of this study may lead to a better understanding of MS. Healthy normal volunteers and patients with multiple sclerosis 18 years of age and older may be eligible for this study. Normal volunteers must have no history of signs or symptoms of central nervous system disease. Patients with MS will be recruited from the NIH Neuroimmunology MS clinic. All participants will undergo MRI. For this procedure, the subject lies still on a table that slides into a narrow metal cylinder (the MRI scanner). Scanning varies from 20 minutes to 3 hours, with most scans lasting between 45 and 90 minutes. During the scan, the subject wears earplugs to muffle loud knocking noises caused by electrical switching of the radio frequency circuits. The subject can communicate with the MRI staff at all times during the procedure. During the scan, the subject wears a mask and breathes in room air or air containing 6% carbon dioxide (CO2). (Room air contains approximately 0.04% CO2, which is about 150 times less than the 6% CO2. Air that is normally breathed out contains about 5% CO2.) Breathing 6% CO2 increases the amount of blood flow in the brain that can be measured using MRI. The total duration of a single 6 percent CO2 inhalation will not exceed 10 minutes. A catheter (thin plastic tube) is placed in a vein in the subject's arm before he or she enters the scanner. At some point during the scan, a contrast agent called gadolinium DTPA is injected into the vein through the catheter. This agent enables clearer images of the brain.
This study will evaluate the effects of NHLBI's employee exercise program, Keep the Beat, on blood vessel function. Damage to blood vessels can cause narrowing of the vessels, resulting in reduced blood flow to parts of the body such as the heart. Stem cells called endothelial progenitor cells, or EPCs, may be able to heal blood vessel damage. Exercise, such as walking on a treadmill, can help move EPCs from the bone marrow where they originate into the blood stream to help heal the damaged blood vessels. The Keep the Beat program encourages NHLBI employees to exercise 15 minutes during the workday and provides exercise facilities to accomplish this. NHLBI employees who have access to NIH exercise facilities may be eligible for this study. Candidates must have no history of heart disease, must not currently be exercising more than 1.5 hours per week and must not have participated in the Keep the Beat program for 3 months prior to entering the study. They are screened with blood tests and blood pressure measurements. Participants undergo the following tests and procedures before beginning the study and 3 months after participating in Keep the Beat: * Blood tests to identify EPCs and their function, measure the level of nitric oxide (a gas produced by healthy blood vessels), and measure C-reactive protein (an inflammatory marker that may be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease). * Brachial artery reactivity study to measure how well the arteries widen. An ultrasound device is placed over the subject's artery just above the elbow. The device measures the size of the artery and the flow of blood through it before and after a pressure cuff is inflated around the forearm. * Treadmill exercise testing to evaluate physical fitness. Subjects exercise on a treadmill for as long as they can. An exercise specialist is present throughout the test. Heart rhythm and oxygen saturation are monitored continuously and blood pressure is measured every 3 minutes.