Clinical trials

The international multicenter registry aims to gather real-world data on patient outcomes and assess the procedural success and performance of various device occluders used in the transcatheter treatment of pediatric and adult patients with perimembranous ventricular septal defects (PmVSD).

This study investigates the effects of specific corrective exercises on EMG of masticatory and cervical muscles in individuals with forward head posture. The study's design will be a retrospective, double- blinded, randomized controlled trial. The participants will be randomly allocated to one of two groups: the exercise group and the control group. The training groups will perform a program consisting of two strengthening (deep cervical flexors and shoulder retractors) and two stretchings (cervical extensors and pectoral muscles) exercises. This exercise program will be repeated 4 times per week for 10 weeks, and each session lasted 30 minutes. The pre/post assessment of forward head posture will measure by using craniovertebral angle CVA. While the muscle activity EMG of the masseter, temporalis, splenius, upper trapezius, and SCM will measure pre and post-assessment using a biopic data acquisition system.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusions (CTOs) is increasingly being performed in patients with advanced coronary artery disease, but there is limited information on the techniques utilized and the procedural outcomes. The goal of this multicenter, investigator initiated registry is to collect information on treatment strategies and outcomes of consecutive patients undergoing CTO PCI among various participating centers. The information collected will be used to determine the frequency of CTO PCI performed at the participating sites and examine the procedural strategies utilized, and the procedural (both immediate and during follow-up) outcomes.

This study is conducted to confirm whether etavopivat works well at reducing the number of Vaso-occlusive crisis VOCs (sickle cell pain crises) caused by obstructions in blood vessels in adults and adolescents living with sickle cell disease. The study will also evaluate how well etavopivat can reduce the damage to different organs, improve your exercise tolerance and reduce fatigue in people with sickle cell disease.The participants will either get etavopivat or placebo. Which treatment the participants will get is decided by chance. Etavopivat is a new medicine and is currently being tested in other studies in addition to this one. The study will last for about 2 years.

Etavopivat is a new medicine under development for treating blood disorders like sickle cell disease and thalassaemia. Sickle cell disease and thalassaemia are inherited blood disorders that affect haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the protein that carries oxygen through the body. This study is looking into how safe treatment with etavopivat is and how well it works over a long period of time. The study will last for up to 264 weeks, but it will end earlier if etavopivat is approved in the participant's country.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common performed surgical procedures in urology. Over the past few decades there have been an increasing development of newer surgical treatment options. Additionally, the outcome parameters for BPH treatments have been standardized. While data are available for the initial pivotal studies, post-market release data are lacking. Under the umbrella of uCARE, we have started a prospective, ongoing international registry for recording demographics and outcomes for patients undergoing surgical treatments for BPH.

This study will evaluate whether listening to low-tempo instrumental music during gastroscopy and/or colonoscopy can reduce the amount of sedative medication needed during the procedure. Adults undergoing elective gastroscopy and/or colonoscopy with sedation will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group will listen to low-tempo instrumental music (60-80 beats per minute) through headphones during the procedure in addition to receiving standard sedation. The other group will receive standard sedation without music. The main outcome of the study is the amount of sedative medication required during the procedure. The study will also compare pain after the procedure, time until discharge, patient satisfaction, and changes in heart rate and blood pressure between the two groups. The researchers hypothesize that patients who listen to low-tempo music will require less sedative medication and may have improved recovery and patient-reported outcomes compared with patients receiving standard sedation alone.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and safety of etavopivat in paediatric participants with sickle cell disease (SCD). Participants will receive etavopivat and will be enrolled in a staggered manner, starting with the oldest age group and followed sequentially by younger cohorts after review of pharmacokinetic and safety data from the preceding cohort. All participants will undergo a 24-week primary treatment period followed by a 72-week extension treatment period to further evaluate long-term safety and pharmacokinetics of etavopivat. The total duration of the study will be approximately 96 weeks.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how people use two generations of IQOS heated tobacco devices and how each device affects their smoking behavior and sensory experience. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Do participants puff differently when using the newer IQOS Iluma i compared to the older IQOS 2.4? * Does the flavor of the tobacco stick (preferred flavor vs. standard tobacco flavor) affect puffing behavior or sensory experience? * What are the differences in throat hit, mouthfeel, and satisfaction between the two devices? Participants will: * Attend 2 laboratory visits at the American University of Beirut * Use both the IQOS Iluma i and IQOS 2.4 devices during each visit * Have their puffing behavior recorded automatically during device use * Provide a breath sample before and after each use session * Complete short questionnaires about how each device felt and their urge to smoke

Compared with shoulder-only training and with continued tennis training alone, will the addition of core strengthening to shoulder training produce significantly greater improvements in flat serve ball speed in healthy tennis players? Secondary Hypothesis: * Combined core + shoulder training will produce greater improvement in serve accuracy than shoulder-only training or tennis training alone. * Combined core + shoulder training will produce greater improvement in TGAR than shoulder-only training or tennis training alone. * Combined core + shoulder training will produce greater improvement in core strength/endurance and shoulder rotational strength than the comparator groups.

Study title: Comparison of clinical, radiographic, histological, and patient-reported outcome/ experience measures of endoscopically-monitored graftless transcrestal sinus floor (TSFE) elevation with 1-stage simultaneous multiple implant placement using osseodensification versus osteotomes in subsinus bone height of 4-5 mm: An 18-month double-arm randomized controlled trial. Principal investigator: Georgina El-Ghoul, DDS, MSc. Contact: [email protected] Institution: Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Saint Joseph University of Beirut, Lebanon. 1. Introduction You are being asked to participate in a research study comparing 2 different procedures used in graftless TSFE with simultaneous implant placement in areas where there is limited amount of bone (4-5 mm) over a period of 18 months. TSFE is used to elevate the sinus membrane to allow new bone formation under the elevated membrane. TSFE can be achieved using either mechanical tools (osteotome) or specially designed burs (osseodensification burs). Currently, the 2 procedures are used by clinicians worldwide with excellent short- and long-term outcomes. You fit the selection criteria of patients enrolled in the study because you have partial posterior edentulism with more than one tooth missing and limited bone height below the maxillary sinus, a condition that is typically treated with graftless TSFE and simultaneous implant placement. 2. Purpose of the study The goal is to evaluate which technique, osseodensification or osteotomes, provides better bone healing, implant stability, and a more comfortable experience for the patient. TSFE procedures are blindly performed without direct intra-operative visualization of the sinus membrane. Since intra-operative sinus membrane perforation has been suggested to increase the risk of implant failure, the incorporation of endoscopy in TSFE provides a real-time magnified intra-operative view of the sinus membrane throughout the entire TSFE and implant placement, thus allowing a precise and controlled sinus elevation with minimal or no risks of perforation. 3. Procedures involved in this study If you agree to participate, you will be randomly assigned to one of 2 groups: * test group (osseodensification): sinus floor elevation using rotating burs; or * control group (osteotomes): sinus floor elevation using manual surgical instruments. The following will occur for all participants: * CBCT: pre-surgically, immediately at the end of the surgery, 6 and 12 months following delivery of the definitive prosthesis; * surgery: sinus floor elevation with simultaneous multiple implant placement using either osseodensification or osteotomes under local anesthesia; * endoscopic monitoring: TSFE is conventionally performed blindly without direct visualization of the delicate sinus membrane during the procedure. In this study, we will use a small specialized camera- an endoscope- through a very small bony hole located either within the surgical area or at a close separate location. This will allow us to enhance the procedure by visualizing the sinus interior and sinus membrane in real-time on a screen during the entire surgery. This monitoring technology will ensure that the sinus membrane stays intact while we create space for your implants, and therefore reduce the risk of implant failure; * biopsy (histomorphometric analysis): when possible, a small bone or implant-bone core that include osseointegrated non-strategic implants (prepared with the OD and OT approaches) along with a thin layer of surrounding bone will be retrieved and analyzed. The non-strategic implant is placed only for research purposes during the same appointment as your planned implants. It is not intended to support your planned bridge. The retrieval of this non-strategic implant involves a second minor and fast flapless procedure 6 months following the main surgery. This test implant will be sent to a laboratory to examine the bone-to-implant connection under a microscope. This will allow us to better understand how quickly and strongly the bone heals around implants using TSFE; and * follow-up (18 months): regular visits for evaluation and tooth cleaning at intervals of 3 months following delivery of the definitive prosthesis. You will be asked to complete surveys about your post-operative course and your overall treatment experience. 4. Risks involved Beyond the normal post-operative course which include potential discomfort, swelling, and hematoma, infrequent complications may occur such as post-surgical infection, bleeding, vertigo, and muscle spasms related to mouth opening. The CBCT radiation dose used each time is roughly equivalent to 6-9 months of natural background radiation (rocks, sun, air, flights). 5. Expected benefits to the patient Sinus augmentation will help generate bone around the implants that replace your missing teeth. Your participation will help improve future treatments for other

This study investigates the effect of cognitive priming through mental arithmetic on functional mobility in post-stroke patients. It hypothesizes that performing mental calculations (addition, subtraction, multiplication) prior to movement stimulates frontoparietal networks, thereby improving gait speed and dynamic balance compared to a passive control condition.

Roxadustat is a licensed medicine to treat anemia in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Anemia is a low level of red blood cells. Current treatment for anemia is to have injections of medicines called erythropoietin stimulating agents (also known as ESAs) to help the bone marrow make more red blood cells. These are often given together with iron. This treatment is also available to children and teenagers with CKD. However, there are some safety concerns with ESAs. Also, as roxadustat is taken orally, this may be another option for treating anemia in children and teenagers with CKD. In this study, children and teenagers with CKD and anemia will take roxadustat for up to 52 weeks to treat their anemia. The main aim of the study is to learn how roxadustat affects anemia in children and teenagers with CKD. This is an open-label study which means the children and teenagers in the study and the clinic staff know they will be taking roxadustat. In this study, the children and teenagers with CKD who need treatment for anemia can take part. Those currently being treated with an ESA will be switched to roxadustat. Those who have not been treated with an ESA can start on roxadustat straight away. All children and teenagers in the study will take roxadustat 3 times a week for up to 52 weeks (1 year). They will start on a fixed dose of roxadustat for 4 weeks. Blood samples will be taken regularly to check hemoglobin levels. The roxadustat dose may be changed if the blood levels of hemoglobin are too high, too low, or change too quickly. After 4 weeks the dose may be changed, if needed, to keep blood levels of hemoglobin in the blood to just below the normal range. Firstly, teenagers will take roxadustat. 10 teenagers will take their fixed dose of roxadustat for 4 weeks. They will give blood samples to help the researchers work out the most suitable dose for the rest of the teenagers in the study. When the rest of the teenagers start taking roxadustat at the most suitable dose for teenagers, 10 children will take roxadustat for 4 weeks. These 10 children will give blood samples to help the researchers work out the most suitable dose for the rest of the children in the study. Then, the rest of the children will take roxadustat at the most suitable dose for children. There will be many clinic visits during the study. Overnight hospital stays are not expected. There will be 1 visit every 2 weeks for the first 4 weeks of taking roxadustat, then every 4 weeks until the end of treatment. Finally there is 1 visit 4 weeks after treatment has finished. During most visits, the children and teenagers will have their vital signs checked (blood pressure, body temperature and heart rate). Fluid status (how much water is in the body) will also be checked for those who need dialysis. The children and teenagers will also have blood tests and the study doctors will check for any medical problems. The children and teenagers will have a medical examination before their first dose of roxadustat and again at about 24-week (6-month) and 52-week (13-month) visits. They will have an electrocardiogram (ECG) before their first dose of roxadustat and again at the 12-week, 24-week, 36-week, and 52-week visit. They will also have urine tests at the 4-week, 24-week and 52-week visits. At the 52-week visit, the children and teenagers will also have blood tests for hemoglobin and iron levels. The study doctors will also check for any medical problems.

This is a Phase 2a study to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) of luspatercept in pediatric participants with β-thalassemia. The study will be conducted in 2 parts for both transfusion-dependent (TD) and non-transfusion-dependent (NTD) β-thalassemia participants: TD Part A will be in adolescent participants aged 12 to \<18 years with two dose escalation cohorts, followed by a dose expansion cohorts. NTD Part A will be conducted in the same age group participants as TD Part A with dose confirmation and expansion cohorts. After Part A TD participants have completed at least one year of treatment, all available safety data from Part A adolescent participants will be evaluated before initiating TD and NTD Part B in the age group from 6 to \<12 years old. Part B will consist of two dose escalation cohorts for TD and two dose escalation cohorts for NTD. Upon completion of the Treatment Period, participants of any cohort who are benefiting from the study treatment, will be offered the opportunity to continue luspatercept treatment in the Long-term Treatment Period for up to 5 years from their first dose. Participants who discontinue study treatment at any time will continue in the Posttreatment Follow-up Period for at least 5 years from their first dose of luspatercept, or 3 years from their last dose, whichever occurs later, or until they withdraw consent/assent, are lost to follow-up, or the End of Trial, whichever occurs first. If neither commercial treatment nor an LTFU (long-term follow-up) protocol is available at that time, continued treatment will be provided within this study or via an alternative mechanism, at the Sponsor's discretion.

This is a long term safety study for patients who have completed a Novartis sponsored asciminib study and are judged by the investigator to benefit from continued treatment

Title: Effect of Pediatric Lung Ultrasound on Antibiotic Prescriptions in Hospitalized Children and Adolescents with Lower Respiratory Tract Infections (PLUS-AP Trial) Purpose of the Study: This study is being done to find out if a type of imaging called lung ultrasound (LUS) can help doctors decide when to stop antibiotics in children and teens who are in the hospital with lung infections, like pneumonia. Antibiotics are often given to these patients, but sometimes they are used for longer than necessary, which can be harmful. The investigators want to see if using LUS helps doctors make decisions that reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, which can help prevent antibiotic resistance and other complications. What is Lung Ultrasound (LUS)? Lung ultrasound is a safe, non-invasive, and painless test that uses sound waves to look at the lungs. It doesn't involve radiation like chest X-rays. It is already being used to help doctors understand lung conditions, and this study will test if it can also help in deciding when to stop antibiotics. How the Study Works: Participants: Children and adolescents (ages 3 months-18 years) who are admitted to the hospital with a lung infection. Groups: LUS Group: These patients will have a lung ultrasound within 24 hours of enrollment. The results will help guide decisions about when to stop antibiotics. Standard Care Group: These patients will receive regular hospital care, which may include chest X-rays and other tests to guide their treatment. What Will Be Measured? Primary Goal: The study will measure how long children and teens stay on antibiotics. The investigators are testing whether LUS can help shorten this time without affecting their recovery. Secondary Goals: Investigators will also look at how long patients stay in the hospital, whether they need further treatment or care after leaving. Why is This Important? If this study shows that LUS can safely reduce the use of antibiotics, it could change how doctors treat lung infections in children. Reducing unnecessary antibiotic use can help fight antibiotic resistance and protect children from side effects of unnecessary treatments.

A Phase 3b, open-label, single-arm, rollover study to evaluate the long-term safety of luspatercept, to the following participants: * Participants receiving luspatercept on a parent protocol at the time of their transition to the rollover study, who tolerate the protocol-prescribed regimen in the parent trial and, in the opinion of the investigator, may derive clinical benefit from continuing treatment with luspatercept * Participants in the follow-up phase previously treated with luspatercept or placebo in the parent protocol will continue into long-term post-treatment follow-up in the rollover study until the follow-up commitments are met * The study design is divided into the Transition Phase, Treatment Phase and Follow-up Phase. Participants will enter transition phase and depending on their background will enter either the treatment phase or the Long-term Post-treatment Follow-up (LTPTFU) phase * Transition Phase is defined as one Enrollment visit * Treatment Phase: For participants in luspatercept treatment the dose and schedule of luspatercept in this study will be the same as the last dose and schedule in the parent luspatercept study. This does not apply to participants that are in long-term follow-up from the parent protocol * Follow-up Phase includes: \- 42 Day Safety Follow-up Visit * During the Safety Follow up, the participants will be followed for 42 days after the last dose of luspatercept, for the assessment of safety-related parameters and adverse event (AE) reporting \- Long-term Post-treatment Follow-up (LTPTFU) Phase * Participants will be followed for overall survival every 6 months for at least 5 years from first dose of luspatercept in the parent protocol, or 3 years of post-treatment from last dose, whichever occurs later, or until death, withdrawal of consent, study termination, or until a subject is lost to follow-up. Participants will also be monitored for progression to AML or any malignancies/pre-malignancies. New anticancer or disease related therapies should be collected at the same time schedule Participants transitioning from a parent luspatercept study in post-treatment follow-up (safety or LTPTFU) will continue from the same equivalent point in this rollover study. The ACE-536-LTFU-001 rollover study will be terminated, and relevant participants will discontinue from the study when all participants fulfill 5 years on the study, including treatment and follow-up.

The primary goal of this randomized clinical trial (RCT) is to evaluate whether Kinesio Taping versus McConnell Taping, when integrated into a standardized hip-knee strengthening and neuromuscular control program, produces significant effects in individuals aged 18-50 with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). The main question it aims to answer is: Does Kinesio Taping compared with McConnell Taping when both combined with a standardized hip-knee exercise program, produce different effects on quadriceps neuromuscular activation (VMO-VL sEMG), pain, functional knee pain, and dynamic knee valgus over a 6 week period intervention? Participants will be divided into three groups for comparison: the control group will receive a structured hip-knee physical therapy exercise program without any taping intervention, Kinesio Taping group with a standardized exercise program, and a McConnell Taping group with a standardized exercise program.

This randomized controlled clinical trial aims to evaluate a minimally invasive technique for peri-implant soft tissue augmentation using microneedling combined with injectable platelet-rich fibrin (i-PRF) compared with the current gold-standard connective tissue graft (CTG). Patients with thin peri-implant soft tissue requiring implant second-stage surgery in the esthetic zone will be randomly assigned to receive either CTG harvested from the palate or a series of microneedling and i-PRF treatments. Clinical outcomes including mucosal thickness, keratinized tissue width, peri-implant health parameters, volumetric soft tissue changes, esthetic outcomes, and patient-reported measures of pain and satisfaction will be evaluated during follow-up. The study aims to determine whether microneedling with i-PRF can provide comparable soft tissue augmentation while reducing patient morbidity associated with connective tissue graft harvesting.

The Pompe Registry is a global, multicenter, international, longitudinal, observational, and voluntary program for patients with Pompe disease, designed to track the disease's natural history and outcomes in patients, both treated and not. Data from the Registry are also used to fulfill various global regulatory commitments, to support product development/reimbursement, and for other research and non-research related purposes. The objectives of the Registry are: * To enhance understanding of the variability, progression, identification, and natural history of Pompe disease, with the ultimate goal of better guiding and assessing therapeutic intervention. * To assist the Pompe medical community with the development of recommendations for monitoring patients, and to provide reports on patient outcomes, to optimize patient care. * To characterize the Pompe disease population. * To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of alglucosidase alfa.

The tobacco use burden in Lebanon is exceptionally high: 35% of adults are current cigarette smokers and 39% are current waterpipe smokers. Although the World Health Organization endorses evidence-based interventions for population-level tobacco dependence treatment, recommended treatments are not integrated as a routine part of primary care in Lebanon, as is the case in other low-resource settings. The objective of this proposal is to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of promising multi-component interventions for implementing evidence-based cessation treatment in Lebanon's national system of primary health care centers.

This is a multi-center multi-national rollover study to allow continued access to crizanlizumab for patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) who are on crizanlizumab treatment in a Novartis-sponsored study (parent study) and are benefiting from the treatment as judged by the investigator.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the erector spinae block can reduce the incidence of chronic pain compared to the paravertebral block in adult patients undergoing total mastectomy. The study includes patients aged 18 to 80 years scheduled for mastectomy, with or without axillary dissection. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does erector spinae block reduce the incidence of chronic pain at 3 months after mastectomy compared to paravertebral block? * Does erector spinae block affect postoperative outcomes such as opioid consumption at 48 hours, pain scores (in PACU, 24 and 48 hours), block performance time, and the incidence of complications, anxiety or depression, and pain intensity at 3 months? Researchers will compare patients receiving erector spinae block to those receiving paravertebral block to determine if erector spinae block provides equivalent or improved outcomes in terms of chronic pain and perioperative measures. Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to receive either erector spinae block or paravertebral block prior to surgery * Undergo total mastectomy (with or without axillary dissection) * Have their pain assessed in the PACU and at 24 and 48 hours postoperatively * Have opioid consumption measured during the first 48 hours after surgery * Be followed up at 3 months to assess chronic pain, pain intensity, and psychological outcomes (anxiety or depression)

Impedance can have an impact on nerve block during loco-regional anesthesia, particularly when using techniques such as nerve stimulation or ultrasound guidance to locate and block specific nerves. Impedance refers to the resistance to electrical current flow within tissue, and it can affect the ability to stimulate nerves or visualize them using ultrasound. The aim of this research is to assess the impedance across different tissue type during an axillary peripheral nerve block (skin, fat, fascia, muscle, nerve proximity). The results of this study would help clinicians performing nerve block to enhance the precision of needle placement, thus increase the success rate of nerve block and reduce adverse events such as intraneural or intravascular injections.

The purpose of this open-label, single arm, multicenter extension study is to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of inclisiran in participants with HeFH or HoFH who have completed the ORION-16 (CKJX839C12301), ORION-13 (CKJX839C12302), ORION-20 (CKJX839C12303) or ORION-19 (CKJX839C12304) studies.