HUD. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Contegra® valved conduit for
reconstruction or replacement of the natural right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) or replacement of
a failed homograft or composite pulmonary conduit in patients under 18 years of age.
The purpose of this research registry is to better understand the natural history of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and current practice patterns. The IPF-PRO registry will be used to collect data and biological samples that will support future research studies by identifying disease biomarkers for IPF. Through these studies, researchers hope to find new ways to detect, treat, and maybe prevent or cure health problems. Some of these studies may be about how genes affect health and disease, or how a person's genes affect their response to a treatment. Some of these studies may lead to new products, such as drugs or tests for diseases. We are asking you to let us collect and store some of your blood and health information so they might be used in these kinds of future studies.
If you are newly diagnosed with IPF and are eligible for participation in IPF-PRO, you will be asked to sign a consent form to become enrolled if you agree to be in this registry. At enrollment a member of MUSC research staff will collect information from you and about your medical history and medical care, as well as information about the types of health insurance (public or private) that you have. As part of your participation in this registry, you will be required to sign a medical release form giving permission for your medical records to be reviewed for the purposes of data collection for the registry. This is an observational registry which means you will not receive any investigational treatments or investigational drugs, and only minimally invasive procedures will be performed (blood draws) at scheduled clinic visits. In addition to the face to face visits for self-administered participant reported questionnaires and blood collection, at roughly 6-month intervals, sites will review the participant's medical records. Your disease management and treatment decisions will be determined by you and your health care professional. Subjects will be followed until the last enrolled subject has been followed for 3 years up to a maximum of 5 years.
The purpose of the MUSC Pulmonary Biorepository is to collect and store samples linked to medical and other information from individuals with pulmonary disease as well as healthy controls.
In combination with the clinical data and other approved research studies (that may recruit for and/or utilize samples of the biorepository) this sample repository will provide for uniform, longitudinal, complete and accurate data that can be organized and clinically correlated at the time of sample donation, with longitudinal testing possible as part of future study. Samples will be linked to each participant's unique ID, though will be deidentified and coded for use in future research and subsequent publications with pulmonary disease and control patients.
You are being asked to take part in this research study because you have been diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is a disease that can affect the lungs, skin and other organs of the body. Sarcoidosis also involves immune cells which fight bacteria. The purpose of this study is to see if using specific antibiotics will help these immune fighting cells get rid of bacterial proteins and how the antibiotics affect respiratory (breathing) function. The antibiotics used in this study are Levaquin, Ethambutol, Azithromycin, and either Rifampin or Rifabutin. You will by chance be assigned either these medicines or a placebo (an inactive substance).
Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) related pulmonary arterial hypertension (SScPAH) have a worse prognosis than those with idiopathic PAH. We have recently discovered that heart cells in SScPAH do not contract or squeeze as well as in other forms of pulmonary hypertension. However, the mechanism leading to this dysfunction is not understood. To better study this and in hopes of developing a future therapy, we plan to collect tissue samples via a heart biopsy at the time of a clinically indicated heart catheterization.
Elevated pressures in the heart can represent a severe medical condition known as pulmonary hypertension. This can result in chronic right heart failure. An abnormal increase in this pressure during exercise may be represent an early stage of vascular lung disease. This study will investigate the prognostic implications of the measured pressures obtained during exercise while undergoing a right heart catheterization procedure based on a large scale multi-center approach by using retrospective and prospective analysis of hemodynamic data.
The PHAR is a multicenter, prospective registry of newly evaluated patients at PHCCs in the United States who have either PAH or CTEPH. Baseline information will be collected at the time of initial evaluation at the PHCC (within six months of the initial outpatient PHCC visit) with follow-up data collected at approximately 6-month intervals. This study will determine how patients with PH are evaluated, tested, and treated, and will observe how well patients do. The goal of the project is to see if patients with PH are treated according to recommended guidelines and to see if there are certain factors which lead to better or worse outcomes in patients with PH. There is no intervention or study medication used and there is no limitation to how a patient is treated in this study.
A main focus of the study is to identify characteristics that can be changed such as smoking, vaping and diet, environmental exposures (e.g. pollution such as car exhaust, allergies such as pet dander) that affect lung function and risk of future lung disease. We also are looking for biomarkers (e.g. measurements of specific substances in nose, blood, and urine samples) and genetic markers that can provide us with information about lung health. The findings in this study are considered research and are not the same as "genetic testing."
The purpose of this research study is to continue to test how well the Endospan NEXUSTM Aortic Arch Stent Graft System performs in the treatment of a diseased aortic arch. The aortic arch is the top part of the main large vessel that carries blood away from the heart. A stent graft is a self-expanding frame that is covered with a material intended to seal the vessel walls.
The NEXUS Aortic Arch Stent Graft System is delivered to the diseased area of your aorta by traveling through your vascular system using fluoroscopic guidance (x-ray pictures), starting with a small incision or needle puncture near your groin (inner thigh). The NEXUS Aortic Arch Stent Graft System is being studied and is not approved by the FDA which means it is investigational in this study. The NEXUS Aortic Arch Stent Graft System has CE Mark which means it is approved for use in Europe. The NEXUS Aortic Arch Stent Graft System is only available through the clinical study in the United States.
The purpose of this study is to test whether a drug called PRA023/MK7240 (the study drug) is a good treatment for patients with Systemic Sclerosis associated with Interstitial Lung Disease (SSc-ILD). The study drug PRA023/7240 is an investigational drug that is given by infusion every 4 weeks. An investigational drug is not approved by The US Food and Drug Administration. It can only be used in a research study like this one. In this study, PRA023/MK7240 will be compared with a placebo (dummy drug). The placebo will be a saline solution that does not have any study drug in it. The comparison with the placebo helps to determine whether the effects seen in your body is because of the PRA023/MK7240 or not. This is a randomized study meaning that you will be assigned by chance (like flipping a coin) to receive either the study drug or placebo. This will be done with the help of a computer-based program and you will have 50% chance of receiving either the study drug or placebo. The study is double-blinded study and 50 weeks long, meaning you and your study doctor will not know what you are receiving, the study drug or placebo.
The study is sponsored by Prometheus Biosciences, Inc., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. The study is being done at approximately 25 sites across the United States. The main portion of the study will require 15 visits to the MUSC main campus and will have the following procedures completed over the course of your participation: blood draw, physician-led assessments of your disease (for example physical exam and skin thickness testing), tests to assess your pulmonary function and health (Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) and High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT)), electrocardiogram, as well as asked to complete surveys. If you complete the initial blinded treatment period of 50 weeks, the study doctor will discuss whether you are eligible to enter the open label period of the study, meaning no placebo. If you are eligible and agree, you will receive 500 mg of study drug once every 4 weeks for an additional 52 weeks. Compensation is available for participation.