This study is enrolling participants with heart failure, a condition where the heart muscle does not pump blood efficiently, with preserved ejection fraction, meaning the heart muscle contracts (squeezes) normally but is unable to relax appropriately. The study involves implanting a pacemaker, a small device that is placed in the upper left chest, and then programming it to either standard settings or personalized settings for you based on your height and heart function. The programming is randomized, meaning assigned by chance, like flipping a coin so you do not get to choose which group you are in nor does your doctor. The study is trying to determine if using the pacemaker to control your heart rate can help you heart failure.
Your participation will last at least 18 months and may be as long as 4.5 years depending on when you join the study. The study will include about 8 visits and include the pacemaker implant procedure as well as testing such as physical exams, 6 minute walk test, echocardiograms (ultrasound test of your heart), blood work, questionnaires and pacemaker checks.
There are risks associated with the pacemaker implant procedure, risks related to study related procedures and the risk of loss of confidentiality. There may be benefit to you and to others with this condition in the future.
This phase 2 study is enrolling patients who have acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with certain biomarkers. This study is being done to see the effectiveness of different combinations of drugs to treat AML. It will involve 3 groups of patients receiving different combinations of Gilteritinib, Azacitidine and Venetoclax. Gilteritinib is an investigational drug, Azacitidine and Venetoclax are FDA approved. The main purpose of the study is to see if the amount of leukemia in the patient's body can be lowered by adding the drug Gilteritinib to the Standard of Care of treating AML with Azacitidine and Venetoclax. The study will include approximately 147 patients. The patients will be randomized into the three groups (like flipping a coin), Group 1 will receive just Azacitidine + Venetoclax, Groups 2 and 3 will also receive Gilteritinib but Group 2 will receive it for more time within a treatment cycle. Patients will complete screening after participating in this treatment trial or SOC therapies. Patients will continue treatment until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, study closure, death, or withdrawal of consent. The main risk is that the study drugs may not be as good as the usual approach for their cancer or condition at shrinking or stabilizing their cancer. Patients may have none, some, or all of the side effects listed or not listed in the protocol, and they may be mild, moderate, or severe. There is no direct benefit for them in participating in this study.
The purpose of the study is to help to develop a new test that may help with early colorectal cancer detection. This will be done by collecting a blood sample, a stool sample, and other sample types, and comparing the results to hopefully identify a biomarker that can detect cancer more easily than current standards.
The purpose of the study is to help to develop a new test that may help with early colorectal cancer detection. This will be done by collecting a blood sample, a stool sample, and other sample types, and comparing the results to hopefully identify a biomarker that can detect cancer more easily than current standards.
The purpose of the study is to help to develop a new test that may help with early colorectal cancer detection. This will be done by collecting a blood sample, a stool sample, and other sample types, and comparing the results to hopefully identify a biomarker that can detect cancer more easily than current standards.
The purpose of the study is to help to develop a new test that may help with early colorectal cancer detection. This will be done by collecting a blood sample, a stool sample, and other sample types, and comparing the results to hopefully identify a biomarker that can detect cancer more easily than current standards.
As growing research suggests noninvasive brain stimulation techniques have the potential to adjunct current treatments or treat Seizure-Type Functional Neurologic Disorder (FND-seiz), also known as Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES), we aim to evaluate whether a form of accelerated intermittent theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (a-iTBS-rTMS), is a practical and well-tolerated treatment for people with this disorder. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or TMS uses magnetic pulses to stimulate a part of the brain involved in mood and thinking, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which has established benefits in disorders known to coincide in patients with FND-seiz, such as depression.
As an open-label, early feasibility study, enrolled participants will receive 6 to 10 treatment sessions each day over 3 to 5 days, with the goal of completing 30 total sessions. This approach was selected because similar protocols have already been shown to be safe and effective in other conditions, and the shortened treatment schedule in comparison to other protocols may make participation easier for people living with FND-seiz. The main goal of the study is to see how many participants can safely and comfortably complete at least 20 of the 30 TMS sessions.
The researchers will also evaluate changes in seizure frequency, quality of life, mood, post-traumatic stress symptoms, physical health, social functioning, and overall satisfaction with treatment. These outcomes will be measured before treatment and again four weeks afterward. The researchers also aim to explore whether people with overlapping conditions, such as depression or PTSD, respond differently to the treatment. Finally, given the overlap between epilepsy and FND-seiz, not all TMS providers are comfortable treating patients with FND-seiz when TMS is indicated for other conditions, thus the researchers aim to outline a protocol to ensure safety and increase TMS access for FND-seiz patients.
Patients with drug-resistant epilepsy often experience problems with mood, thinking, or behavior that cannot be explained by seizure activity alone. This study will examine how cognitive and mood-related brain regions communicate in patients undergoing routine intracranial electroencephalogram (iEEG) seizure assessment in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). While the clinical electrodes are in place, we will apply brief single magnetic pulses (single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation, or spTMS) to the scalp in specific brain regions and record the brain's electrical response through the existing electrodes; no additional surgery is required. We will compare the responses to stimulation of an emotionally and cognitively relevant region (left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) with a contrast site (primary motor cortex). We will also investigate whether momentary brain rhythms and seizure-related electrical activity affect responses propagation through the brain. The findings may help identify measurable brain signaling patterns ("biomarkers") to understand how cognitive-emotional brain networks work in people with epilepsy and inform future personalized non-invasive brain stimulation methods for treating neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Newborns who are born premature or infants who suffer brain injury are at risk for motor problems. The common motor skills of reaching and grasping that infants have to learn can be weaker on one side of the body, depending on the site of the brain injury. These skills are routinely practiced with an occupational therapist once or twice a week, to help the infant strengthen these skills. A high intensity therapy program of constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) may be available for the infant, but it takes from 40-120 hours total treatment time for most infants to improve their motor skills.
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) stimulates a branch of a major nerve by the ear, called the vagus nerve, that may help improve your child's ability to learn motor skills. CIMT involves placing a soft mitt constraint on the stronger arm and hand while encouraging your child to use the weaker arm and hand during intensive therapy sessions. By using both CIMT and the nerve stimulation together, we hope your child's movement skills will improve more than with therapy alone.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of taVNS to improve motor skills when paired with the minimal amount of CIMT and whether a measure of the strength of the brain circuit to the arm and hand muscles can tell us how well a child may respond to this therapy.
This study is for people who have experienced a traumatic event in the past one year and drink alcohol. The research involves completing a five week behavioral treatment for stress and alcohol use. Participants will complete surveys during visits. Participants may also be asked to complete a interview about their experiences.