Clinical trials

This is an observational study in which data from women with Chagas disease who will take or have already taken nifurtimox during pregnancy and the impact on their babies are studied. Chagas disease is an inflammatory, infectious disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. This parasite is mainly spread by insects called triatomine bug. If Chagas disease is left untreated, it can later cause e.g. serious heart and digestive problems. Nifurtimox has been used for more than 50 years to treat Chagas disease in children and adults. It is not recommended to be used during pregnancy as data from animal studies indicate that it may harm the baby. Currently, there are not enough data to know if this is also the case in humans. In this study, researchers want to collect data on the safety of nifurtimox use in pregnant women. To do this, researchers will collect the following information: * Birth defects (abnormal and problematic structures or functions, a child is born with) * Pregnancy outcomes (like live birth, preterm birth, still birth/death of the unborn baby, miscarriage, or abortion) * Certain health problems of the child up to 12 months of age * Certain health problems of the women experienced during pregnancy The data will be collected from different sources including telephone calls with the women or their doctor, CRFs (case reprt forms) or from medical records The researchers will compare the proportion of children with birth defects, pregnancy outcomes or certain health problems of the child or the women during pregnancy with available data on these outcomes in the general population. The study will run for approximately 10 years.

This multicenter observational study will evaluate the association between geographic altitude, availability of critical care resources, and clinical outcomes in children with pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS). Data on demographics, physiology, and hospital structure will be collected from PICUs located at different altitudes worldwide. The study aims to identify gaps in PARDS management and provide recommendations adapted to diverse resource settings.

In this study, the investigators will follow two small cohorts of pregnant women: a cohort of healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies residing at high altitude, a control group of healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies residing at sea level, to characterize differences in cardiopulmonary adaptation and nitric oxide (NO) pathway expression at elevations \>3,500 m throughout pregnancy and into the postpartum period. The investigators aim to investigate right-sided cardiac impairment induced by chronic hypobaric hypoxemia, its effects on fetal growth, and the potential contribution of cardiovascular nitric oxide depletion to obstetric complications.

This is an international, multicenter, observational study aimed at investigating acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy (AKI-RRT) in Latin American countries. The main questions this study aims to answer are: * What is the epidemiology, outcomes, and processes of care for patients with AKI-RRT in Latin America? * How do outcomes differ across different countries in Latin America? * What factors (demographics, clinical, socioeconomic) influence outcomes in patients with AKI-RRT in Latin America? The main aims of this study are to: * Establish a comprehensive database containing clinical, laboratory, treatment, process, and outcome data of patients with AKI-RRT in Latin America * Describe current epidemiology of AKI-RRT in Latin America * Compare processes of care and outcomes across different countries in Latin America * Provide data resources to facilitate and promote clinical research in AKI-RRT

Gallstones are relatively frequent in women and constitute one of the main risk factors for gallbladder cancer (GBC). Currently, GBC diagnosis is mainly based on imaging (ultrasound or abdominal CT) associated with invasive examinations (biopsy and surgery), with no marker available to date to accurately predict risk and diagnose the disease early. The only curative treatment for GBC remains surgery with complete resection of tumors in early stages. Given the aggressiveness of GBC and the very limited therapeutic options, as well as the possibility of preventing GBC by cholecystectomy during the 10 to 20 years required for the development of gallbladder tumors, it is imperative to develop effective and efficient prevention strategies based on a prioritization of interventions according to environmental and genetic-molecular risk factors. The investigators aim to identify epidemiological factors linked to the development of GBC, and to identify, validate and functionally characterize genetic-molecular markers in blood, saliva, urine, bile and stool that allow risk prediction, early diagnosis and precision treatment of incidental tumors.

Pediatric tuberculosis (TB) continues to pose diagnostic challenges in low- and middle-income countries with high rates of TB disease, due to the well-described impact of paucibacillary disease in children, and current TB culture and polymerase-chain reaction tests are of limited usefulness due to cost, restricted availability, and poor sensitivity in specimens available from younger children. Our team of experts from Tulane, Johns Hopkins University, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, and Asociación Benéfica Prisma have confronted all of these challenges through more than 25 years of collaboration in Peru and Bolivia. Our goal is to directly address the challenges of TB in children by evaluating a new diagnostic approach developed by MPI Tony Hu at Tulane University using a CRISPR-mediated TB assay (CRISPR-TB) optimized to detect circulating Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell-free DNA (Mtb-cfDNA), and used to analyze cryopreserved serum in pilot studies from adults and children with presumptive TB, their asymptomatic household contacts, and a cohort of symptomatic children living with HIV (CLHIV) at high risk for TB. Results from symptomatic adult cohorts yielded a pooled sensitivity of 93%; specificity of 93%; positive predictive value of 95%; and negative predictive value of 92%. In limited pilot studies in CLHIV CRISPR-TBD results accurately identified all confirmed TB (13/13) and most children with unconfirmed TB (80%; 52/65). We propose to enroll 200 presumptive TB cases and an equal number of well control subjects in each of 2 study populations (test population and validation population) identified through clinics associated with the "Dr. Mario Ortiz Suarez" Children's Hospital in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We will determine the distribution of cfDNA concentrations in peripheral blood in a "test population" composed of two age-based groups of children (2 months-6 years, 7-14 years) with respiratory disease grouped by likelihood of TB based on the NIH consensus case definitions (confirmed TB, unconfirmed TB, and unlikely TB) and in age-matched controls grouped by presence of latent TB infection (LTBI), with cfDNA measured serially in time among TB cases receiving antibiotic therapy. We will also validate standard ranges of quantitative cfDNA established for clinical subgroups of children with TB disease or LTBI in an independent validation cohort. An additional aim will determine the correlation between quantitative cfDNA and quantitative imaging-based TB scores based on evidence of disease in the lung, the primary target organ in TB disease, by (1) chest radiograph, measured by computer-aided analysis using the CAD4TB v7 system, and by (2) lung ultrasound, performed with a portable/low-cost probe assisted by machine learning algorithms for automatic interpretation. These biomarkers will be tested as potential cofactors that may be combined with cfDNA levels in peripheral blood, to improve the detection of TB disease in children. The results of this study will be the first step in a process to find a path to allow detection of the many "unconfirmed" TB cases and ideally make the diagnosis of pediatric TB in reach for low resource settings where it is so critically needed.

The aim of this observational study is to learn about the characteristics of nutritional support in critically ill children. The primary question to be answered is Is there an association between nutritional support of the critically ill child and clinical and hospital outcomes in children admitted to a pediatric referral center? Patients will be followed throughout their hospitalization, with a step-by-step evaluation of the nutritional support received through standard care and a review of the results obtained in the patients.

This is a phase 2 study of the combination of inhaled-pentamidine plus oral miltefosine for Bolivian mucosal leishmaniasis.

Septic shock in children still carries substantial mortality and morbidity. While resuscitation with 40-60 mL/kg intravenous fluid boluses remains a cornerstone of initial resuscitation, an increasing body of evidence indicates potential for harm related to high volume fluid administration. The investigators hypothesize that a protocol on early use of inotropes in children with septic shock is feasible and will lead to less fluid bolus use compared to standard fluid resuscitation. Here, the investigators describe the protocol of the Adrenaline in Early Sepsis Resuscitation in Children- A Randomised Controlled Pilot Study in the Emergency Department (ANDES CHILD)