Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials

Description

The object of this non-randomized, prospective study is to assess the effectiveness of ablative fractional 2940 nm laser treatment of vulvar lichen sclerosus.

Aim 1: To assess physical and histological changes related to vulvar lichen sclerosus before and after laser treatment.

Aim 2: To evaluate participant satisfaction for laser treatment of vulvar lichen sclerosus.

The results of this study will determine whether fractional 2940 nm laser is an effective treatment option for lichen sclerosus, particularly for those participants not eligible for high-dose topical steroids or who have failed prior treatment with topical steroids.

Description

The main purpose of this study is to better understand the effects of two types of treadmill exercise programs that include education and/or techniques that may be helpful for exercise among individuals with, or at risk for, metabolic syndrome.

Description

This research study is a Phase II clinical trial. Phase II clinical trials test the effectiveness of an investigational drug, which is cisplatin in this trial, to learn how well it works in treating a specific cancer. "Investigational" means that cisplatin is still being studied for use in this setting and that research doctors are trying to find out more about it-in this case, how effective cisplatin is for treating breast cancer in BRCA mutation carriers. It also means that the FDA has not yet approved cisplatin for your type of cancer. Cisplatin has been approved by the FDA for treatment of other cancers.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate cisplatin, a chemotherapy drug that has been shown to be active in the treatment of women with breast cancer and a BRCA mutation. In this study, we are comparing cisplatin to the standard chemotherapy, doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide ("AC") that you might receive if you did not participate in this study.

Description

The main purpose of this study is to find the long-term effects of daily administration of 40 IU of intranasal insulin (INI) as compared to placebo (sterile saline) on cognition and memory in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and non-diabetic controls over 24 weeks with a follow-up period for 24 weeks. Four groups will be tested: DM group treated with INI; DM group treated with placebo; control group treated with INI and the control group treated with placebo. The INI or placebo will be delivered into the nose. The investigators are interested to see whether INI can improve memory and cognition and blood flow in the brain in the type 2 DM group as compared to placebo and to the non-diabetic group over a long-term period.

Description

The proposed trial is entitled "Pilot study of Motivational Interviewing for Loved Ones (MILO)." The study population is parents and concerned significant others (PCSO) of individuals experiencing recent (past five years) onset of a psychotic disorder (hereafter referred to as individuals with psychosis, "IP") who are not currently engaged with, or at risk for disengagement from, treatment. MILO is a brief and structured intervention that teaches motivational interviewing communication strategies. The initial aim (phase 1) of this pilot study is to evaluate feasibility of the intervention. The secondary aims are to evaluate the effectiveness of MILO for (1) enhancing the engagement of IP with evidence-based treatments and (2) reducing distress among PCSO. I hypothesize that the intervention will be superior to control condition for both enhancing IP engagement with mental health services and reducing PCSO distress.

Description

The goal of this study is to examine the effect of chronic and acute hyperglycemia in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) on brain glutamate levels using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and associations of brain glutamate with symptoms of depression.

Description

CyberKnife Based Radiosurgery is a way to deliver large doses of radiation very accurately to a tumor. The ability of this technology to minimize radiation dose to organs adjacent to the target tumor allows a high dose to be delivered to the tumor, thus potentially increasing the efficacy of radiation treatment. Currently, radiosurgery is commonly used for brain metastases, Stage I lung cancer, spine tumors, and localized prostate cancer. The purpose of this protocol is to evaluate the role of Radiosurgery for the treatment of clinically localized primary renal cell carcinoma.

Description

The purpose of this study is to test a novel diagnostic immunoassay of platelet function and compare it to the current gold standard platelet function assay by testing the response to aspirin and clopidogrel in a group of healthy volunteers and severely obese individuals and comparing the accuracy of the two tests. The secondary goals will be to evaluate the pharmacodynamic parameters of the antiplatelet agents across the two testing modalities and refine the cutoffs used for the novel assay.

Description

The mortality burden of trauma in the United States is substantial, and is currently the leading cause of death in warfare and in civilians below age 45. Infection and sepsis are leading causes of morbidity and death in early survivors. Pneumonia (PNA) occurs in 17-36% of ventilated trauma patients; far more than non-trauma patients. The long held dogmatic notion of a mechanical predisposition to development of pneumonia in trauma has lacked robust support. However, there is evidence of the innate immune response to injury plays a major role in increasing susceptibility to infection.

This application is for support of a Focused Program Award addressing the role that "danger signaling" due to "danger associated molecular patterns" (or DAMPs) derived from somatic tissue injuries play in altering innate immune signaling in the lung in ways that predisposes to PNA. This innate immune response plays a pivotal role in the development and progression of lung inflammation. The organization of the Focused Program Award is into six Projects with collaborators from the Departments of Surgery, Medicine and Anesthesiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Departments of Biology and Biological Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The human subjects interaction portion of this project is covered in the Human Subjects & Samples Project of the Award, although the information and tissues obtained from this Project will be shared with the other Projects, and the activities planned for those Projects are outlined in this application.

Description

This study is utilizing ultrasound measurement to measure neuromuscular disease status in adult patients. The hypothesis is the by quantifying ultrasound data, it is possible that ultrasound can be utilized as a tool to determine if a disease is responding to therapy or progressing.

Description

The purpose of this protocol is to compare standard of care lung protective ventilation settings with an automated ventilator setting, called Adaptive Support Ventilation (ASV), in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This study will compare measurements (i.e. tidal volumes, driving pressure, respiratory rate (RR), compliance, peak airway pressures, plateau pressures, PEEP) with each ventilator technique, and will measure esophageal pressures to compare transpulmonary and respiratory system mechanics.

Description

The objective of this project is to define the effectiveness and therefore the role of NIR vein finders in adult patients with difficult peripheral venous access. The specific objective of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to test the clinical success rate of placing peripheral venous catheters in 'difficult' access patients using traditional peripheral venous catheter placement compared to two established methods utilizing NIR vein imaging. The investigators hypothesize that the capability to successfully place lasting peripheral venous catheters is increased with the adjunct of the imaging technology, reducing the number of failed needle sticks, reducing the number of peripheral venous catheters placed throughout a patient's hospital stay, and reducing the need for more invasive catheters such as PICC lines.

Description

A prospective registry evaluating the efficacy of EC-IC bypass in a subgroup of patients, specifically, patients with carotid occlusion and symptoms refractory to medical therapy and evidence for poor cerebrovascular reserve as evaluated by physiological testing (e.g. Diamox Challenge SPECT Scan). This subgroup includes:

Hospitalized unstable patient with crescendo or postural TIA's
Patients with multiple TIA's, limb-shaking TIA's, and/or cognitive decline despite medical therapy.

Description

The investigators hypothesize that multi-port thoracic epidural catheters will provide superior pain relief when compared to uniport catheters for post-surgical patients.

Description

The purpose of this study is to better understand specific stress-management practices on mood, sleep, and physiology. Participants will be assigned to one of three interventions (they all active interventions - none are a "wait-list"). Each intervention asks participants to engage in a daily practice of 20 minutes per day for 8 weeks. Questionnaires and measures of heart rate and blood pressure will be collected at the start and end of the 8 weeks, including a virtual laboratory visit.

Description

Treatment with paclitaxel-based endovascular devices (PED) has become a common treatment option for patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) involving the femoral-popliteal artery. However, an aggregate level meta-analysis identified an association between the use of PED and increased all-cause mortality at both two and five-year follow-up intervals, though there are significant limitations of these analyses. Exploration of real-world data has been suggested as a means to further investigate the safety of PED. The current study explores the association of PED and mortality in real-world data using U.S. commercial claims from the FAIR Health data warehouse.

Description

This is a pilot feasibility study of a group-based, mind body intervention for managing stress and fear of recurrence and promoting resiliency among adult cancer survivors.

Description

This is a randomized double blinded non-inferiority study comparing the duration of pain relief when patients receive one of three doses of spinal morphine. Enrolled patients will be randomly assigned to receive either 50 mcg, 150 mcg, or 250 mcg. All patients will receive standardized postoperative care, including multimodal analgesia. The primary outcome will be the time until the patient requests additional opioid pain medications.

Description

The primary objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the NICO BrainPathâ„¢ hematoma evacuation system for patients between the ages of 18 and 80 years old with an intracerebral hematoma. Effectiveness will be defined as the ability to achieve either 70% reduction of intracranial hematoma or to achieve <15 ml residual hematoma volume following surgery.

Additionally, the study aims to compare the mortality and complication rate of patients who undergo minimally invasive, navigation guided endoport based evacuation of intracerebral hematoma with NICO BrainPathâ„¢ System as compared to non-operative, supportive standard of care.

The study is a prospective, non-randomized cohort study. 50 patients will be enrolled in Group A (NICO BrainPathâ„¢ system) and 50 patients will be matched retrospectively of similar diagnosis, undergoing standard of care from Epic). 50 patients will undergo minimally invasive, navigation guided endport based evacuation of intracerebral hematoma with NICO BrainPathâ„¢ System. The patient population receiving non-operative supportive care will be matched to the surgical patients based on age, gender, and location of hemorrhage.

Description

This study will compare stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) to trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) as a bridging strategy for patients with HCC undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation. We propose that SBRT will be associated with longer time intervals between initial treatment and the need for retreatment, compared to TACE, as a "bridge" to orthotopic liver transplantation.

Description

The investigators hypothesize that teaching ultrasound sonoanatomy to identify the L3-L4 interspace will improve resident's long term skill to correctly identify the interspace as compared to palpation alone.

Description

To determine the half time of the emptying of the stomach of women in early labor with and without epidural pain relief when drinking either water or a carbohydrate-based sports drink.

Description

This is a randomized double blinded trial to determine if a small dose of dexmedetomidine can prevent and relieve nausea and shivering, two of the more common complaints after cesarean delivery.

Description

The objective of this project is to define the effectiveness and therefore the role of NIR vein finders in adult patients with difficult peripheral venous access. The specific objective of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to test the clinical success rate of placing peripheral venous catheters in 'difficult' access patients using traditional peripheral venous catheter placement compared to two established methods utilizing NIR vein imaging. The investigators hypothesize that the capability to successfully place lasting peripheral venous catheters is increased with the adjunct of the imaging technology, reducing the number of failed needle sticks, reducing the number of peripheral venous catheters placed throughout a patient's hospital stay, and reducing the need for more invasive catheters such as PICC lines.

Description

The use of neuromuscular blocking agents during surgery is associated with postoperative respiratory complications and increased risk of readmission to the hospital following ambulatory surgery. Understanding the clinical behavior of providers is essential in devising and assessing quality improvement projects since it is primarily individuals who determine the utilization of neuromuscular blocking drugs and reversal agents, not institutions. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to determine the variability between individual anesthesia providers (attending physician, resident, nurse anesthetists) in the use of neuromuscular blocking drugs and reversal agents, using advanced statistical methods to adjust for differences in patient and procedure case mix. The investigators hypothesize that variance between individual anesthesia providers in the use of neuromuscular blocking drugs and reversal agents differs depending on provider type.

Description

Following the publication of two case studies that reported behavioral benefit in ASD patients treated with omalizumab, the investigators will conduct a pilot trial to test the proof-of-concept efficacy of omalizumab in ASD patients with comorbid atopic disease. Investigators will evaluate behavioral improvement using three questionnaires. Investigators will also perform fMRI on all subjects and obtain serum samples for quantification of immunological biomarkers. If the trial is conclusive, the investigators will conduct a larger-scale, randomized-controlled trial to further understand the pathology of allergy in this subpopulation of ASD patients and the efficacy of this intervention.

Description

Interstitial Lung Abnormalities (ILA) have been previously defined as nondependent changes affecting more than 5% of any lung zone on computed tomography (CT) scans of the lung. Several studies suggest that the prevalence of ILA in participants in non-pulmonary research studies ranges anywhere from 7-9%. Work over the last decade has shown that, despite previous characterization as an asymptomatic research finding, ILA has significant clinical and biological consequences. These include reduced exercise capacity, functional limitations, decreased lung volumes, increased mortality, and in some cases histopathology similar to Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). ILA have been detected in lung cancer screening cohorts, where the prevalence of ILA is estimated to be between (10%-20%) to those noted in other research cohorts. Given that a significant proportion of those will have progression, CT lung cancer screening (CTLS) cohorts represent an ideal catchment population for future research and clinical trials. Lahey Hospital and Medical Center was one of the earliest clinical centers to develop a CTLS program in the country. Investigators propose to qualitatively characterize ILA in a large clinical CTLS population.

Description

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of an automatic polyp detection software (henceforth referred to as the research software) as a support system during colonoscopy; a procedure during which a physician uses a colonoscope or scope, to look inside a patient's rectum and colon. The scope is a flexible tube with a camera-to see the lining of the colon. The research software is used to aid in the detection of polyps (abnormal tissue growths in the wall of the colon and adenomas (pre-cancerous growths) during colonoscopy.

The research software used in this study was programmed by a company in Shanghai, which develops artificial intelligence software for computer aided diagnostics.

The research software was developed using a large repository (database or databases) of polyp images where expert colonoscopists outlined polyps and suspicious lesions. The software was subsequently developed and validated using several databases of images and video to operate in near real-time or within minutes of photographing the tissue. It is intended to point out polyps and suspicious lesions on a separate screen that stands behind the primary monitor during colonoscopy. It is not expected to change the colonoscopy procedure in any way, and the physician will make the final determination on whether or not to biopsy or remove any lesion in the colon wall.

The research software will not record any video data during the colonoscopy procedure. In the future, this software may help gastroenterologists detect precancerous areas and decrease the incidence of colon cancer in the United States.

Description

The proposed study is a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to test the efficacy of an oral Lactobacillus product dissolved in sterile saline and instilled into the urinary bladder in an attempt to colonize the urinary bladder as well as prevent UTIs.

Description

The main purpose of this study is to determine the effects of controlling the heart rate of patients with septic shock using an intravenous medication called esmolol.

Description

The investigators are conducting a study that will investigate the possible mechanisms of weight loss associated with exenatide treatment and the metabolic characteristics of high responders (i.e. subjects who achieve greater than 5% weight loss) to exenatide treatment. The investigators will also examine the magnitude and duration of weight loss among a cohort of high responders over 52 weeks of treatment, and at 3 and 6 months following treatment.

Hypothesis:

The mechanisms of weight loss with exenatide are not fully understood, and weight loss responses to exenatide are highly variable, possibly reflecting distinct metabolic parameters. By identifying and following a group of obese women who lose greater than 5% body weight after short-term exenatide treatment, the investigators can gain insights into the possible mechanisms of weight loss and assess long-term weight loss with this pharmacotherapeutic intervention.

Description

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate non-invasive markers of celiac disease activity in subjects that are on a gluten-free diet, in remission from celiac disease who undergo gluten challenge.
The secondary aims of this protocol are to identify novel mediators important in the pathophysiology of celiac disease and to evaluate changes in metabolism with gluten exposure.

Description

This study aims to implement an intervention based on multiple, individualized multifocal tACS stimulation sessions based on individual PET and MRI information in patients with amyloid-positive PET with the hope that this leads to microglia activation and decrease in cerebral amyloid and tau depositions in human patients with AD.

Description

The purpose of this protocol is to conduct a pilot study to investigate whether pancreatic enzyme supplementation will improve symptoms in individuals with celiac disease who suffer persistent symptoms despite a gluten free diet. This protocol specifically aims to:

Evaluate the efficacy of pancreatic enzyme supplementation for reduction of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with celiac disease on a gluten free diet.
Assess the ability of fecal elastase levels to predict response to pancreatic enzyme supplementation in patients with celiac disease on a gluten free diet.

Description

This study is intended to determine whether ultrasound imaging can improve the ability to place a spinal or epidural needle in obstetric anesthesia. By evaluating the use of ultrasound for the placement of epidural catheters the investigators hope to answer two questions:

1. How does the traditional technique based on palpation compare to one using ultrasound to place an epidural catheter? 2. Does ultrasound reduce one potential risk in epidural placement?

Description

The goal of this study is to assess the utility of a data visualization tool for providers' understanding patients' past microbiological culture sensitivities. Providers that are ordering antibiotics for patients with previous culture data in the medical record will be asked to answer questions regarding past sensitivity results. They will be randomized to either using the visualization tool before answering the questions or using the standard medical record tools. They will then be surveyed about their decision-making, knowledge, and the usefulness of the tool.

Description

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the use of inhaled anesthetics, compared to intravenous anesthetics, can affect the amount of lung inflammation and postoperative respiratory complications seen after cardiac surgery.

Description

The overall goal of this study is to open up the promising treatment of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which has been shown to be effective against seizures in patients with surface neocortical foci, to a much larger population of patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) and other forms of epilepsy with deep foci, who are not currently considered good rTMS candidates.

The investigators hypothesize that rTMS can modulate the hyperexcitable state in patients with deep seizure foci by targeting its usage to accessible cortical partner regions. In this study the investigators aim 1) to map the functional connectivity of the epileptogenic mesial temporal lobe in patients with medically refractory mesial temporal lobe epilepsy; and 2) to perform a randomized controlled assessment of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation protocols applied to specific neocortical targets in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. The methods used in this study will include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, electroencephalography (EEG), and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Description

This is an interventional, sham controlled, double-blind study designed to investigate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of 40 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), a form of noninvasive brain stimulation, delivered for 6 weeks once daily in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients. Cognition, gamma EEG activity and brain metabolism via FDG-PET will be measured before and after the tACS intervention.

Description

This is a planned single center prospective randomized study evaluating the safety and efficacy of low dose thymoglobulin as induction agent in renal transplant recipients. Inclusion criteria will be adult renal transplant recipients who are not sensitized against their potential donors. The patients who agree to participate in the study will be randomly assigned to either thymoglobulin at 1.25mg/kg x 3 doses or 0.75mg/kg x 3 doses. There will be 86 sealed envelopes to perform the randomization process. 43 envelopes with 1.25mg/kg dosing and the other 43 envelopes with 0.75mg/kg dosing. The investigators will sequentially choose the sealed envelopes at the time of the patient randomization process. All patients will be started on our standard immunosupression regimen of prograf/cellcept and a fast steroid taper. Data will be obtained from every patient for up to one year post-transplant.

Description

The proposed project is designed to examine the effects of cognitive rehabilitation on brain structure and function in a randomized trial of 102 early course schizophrenia patients treated for 18 months with either cognitive enhancement therapy (CET) or an Enriched Supportive Therapy (EST) control, and then followed-up at 1-year post-treatment.

Description

The purpose of this study is to determine if certain features of tumor specimens sampled prior to therapy can predict for the likelihood of responding to everolimus.

Description

In this study, we aim to determine whether the combination of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Thiamine (Vitamin B1), and Corticosteroids improves the trajectory of organ failure and reduces mortality in patients with sepsis and septic shock as compared to placebo.

Description

To study the effects of ubiquinol as a "metabolic resuscitator" in post-cardiac arrest.

Description

This study will examine the effects of Isha Kriya meditation on stress and burnout among healthcare providers.

Description

Simple meditation and EEG changes