This study is a database evaluating data in patients with chronic pancreatitis that are seen and evaluated in a surgery clinic and ultimately under surgery for chronic pancreatitis with total pancreatectomy with islet cell transplant. Patients will receive the standard of care for this operation. This is not a clinical trial, and no changes will be made to their care. Data will be collected to review outcomes only. They may be asked to fill out study related questionnaires or surveys.
The goal of this research study is to explore and evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of a 8-week, nurse-led Palliative Care program (SUPPORT-T) delivered over the internet to help educate and support individuals with Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis (PFF) and their caregivers. In this study, we will enroll 80 PFF patients and 80 careparnters (total N=160 participants) who will then either receive the online SUPPORT-T program or enhanced usual care (educational handouts). At the end of the study, 15 PFF patients and caregivers who received SUPPORT-T and 5 community partners will take part in one-on-one interviews with the researchers to provide their feedback on the program; so as to improve it for a larger study. This study is being conducted by the Medical University of South Carolina in South Carolina and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Using surveys researchers will assess caregiver choice, caregiver quality of life (CQOL), caregiver sleep, caregiver stress, and caregiver burden (CB). Some participants answering surveys (approximately 20), will be chosen by researchers to participate in an interview to gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives of individuals who assume caregiving responsibilities without a personal sense of choice.
Cutaneous lupus is a common manifestation of childhood-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (cSLE), affecting up to 85% of patients. Skin involvement can cause irritation, scarring, hair loss, changes in skin color and appearance, which may negatively impact quality of life and mental health. This study aims to assess the impact of cutaneous lupus on quality of life and mental health in diverse pediatric populations, with the goal of identifying disparities and improving individualized care. We will use validated surveys to assess disease burden on quality of life.
The purpose of this research study is to evaluate patient outcomes following treatment with the SPRINTĀ® Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) System for chronic posterior sacroiliac joint complex (PSIJC) pain. The PNS system is a temporary nerve stimulator, which provides non-surgical treatment that reduces pain by sending electrical pulses to the nerves that carry signals to/from your spinal cord. SPRINT PNS system is currently FDA approved to treat pain after surgery, pain after trauma, and pain that is difficult to treat. The study will consist of 3 total visits for each participant, over the course of roughly 6 months.
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.
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.
Adults (ages 18+) who use cannabis and are interested in reducing their use will be enrolled in an 8-week treatment program. All participants will receive counseling (1 goals session with a therapist followed by 7 weekly computerized cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions). Detailed cannabis assessments (biological and self-report) will be conducted throughout treatment and at 1- and 4-months post-treatment completion. Daily electronic diaries will be administered via text message to record detailed logs of cannabis use quantity and frequency. Participants are also asked at different points throughout the study to wear a Fitbit to monitor their sleep.
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.