ANZCTR search results

Patients that present to Emergency Departments with syncope are some of the most difficult to diagnose. Syncope (fainting, collapse) is a temporary loss of consciousness with a spontaneous return to normal function. There are many causes of syncope, some serious and some trivial. There are a number of ways to determine whether a patient has a serious cause (and should be admitted to hospital and undergo further testing and observation) or a trivial cause and can be discharged home. One way is the San Francisco Rule, which looks at five factors. These factors are: using the acronym CHESS, C-history of congestive cardiac failure, H-haematocrit <30%, E-abnormal ECG, S- shortness of breath, S- systolic blood pressure <90. However, the accuracy of this rule is variable. There have been suggestions that looking at an additional factor, like a specific blood test for heart failure, may improve the accuracy of this rule. The aim of this project is to determine whether the use of the San Francisco Syncope Rule (SFR) with the addition of a Brain-Naturetic Peptide (BNP) blood test can result in an improvement in the outcomes of patients who present to Emergency Departments (ED) with syncope.

The primary objective of this study is to establish if exogenous glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) has a glucose lowering effect in critically ill patients and whether it effects gastric emptying

This trial will examine the effect of a new solution on subjective response, the ocular surface, and lens deposition. The hypotheses are these outcomes will be similar for each lens type and similar for control solutions

This study examines the intervention effects of phonological awareness intervention on the literacy skills of children who are bilingual in English and German.

Tamsulosin is currently prescribed for the symptoms associated with a condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia. In lay terms this is known as an enlarged prostate (benign). This condition is common in men over the age of 70. The condition can become symptomatic (meaning that symptoms appear) with urinary tract infections and signs of obstruction (of the urine pathway) reported. Symptoms are reported in about 10-30% of men aged in the early 70s. Tamsulosin is currently prescribed for these symptoms. An oral capsule containing tamsulosin has been approved in Australia and other countries and has been on the Australian market for several years. The tablet is taken daily by patients. The current study will test the safety and effectiveness of administering tamsulosin by an alternative method – a patch will be applied once to the skin and is designed to provide 7 days of doses. This patch is called a transdermal delivery system (TDS).

The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of methylphenidate combined with individualised Attention Process Training (APT-3) in enhancing performance on neuropsychological measures of speed of thinking, complex attentional functions, and everyday attentional behaviour in a seven week randomised, placebo-controlled drug trial, with functional follow-up at 6 months. A secondary aim is to identify which factors, including injury severity and baseline attentional performance, will be associated with response to Attention Process Training and methylphenidate interventions.

For a successful colonoscopy, good views of the bowel lining are essential. Ideally, a bowel cleansing preparation should be effective at cleaning out the bowel but should also be well tolerated with minimal abdominal discomfort, nausea or other adverse symptoms. Historically, oral intake on the day prior to colonoscopy has been limited to clear fluids alone - without food. Rather than a restriction to clear fluids, a low-residue diet may also result in good quality bowel preparation. This research project is aiming to determine whether there is any difference in the bowel cleansing quality or how well it is tolerated (such as the degree of hunger, nausea, interference with daily activities) between a standard dietary restriction to clear fluids and a low-residue diet (one that contains few indigestible components) on the day prior to colonoscopy.

The aim of this study is to determine the optimal treatment for uncomplicated elbow fractures (undisplaced supracondylar humeral fractures) in children by comparing three treatment methods. A supracondylar humeral fracture is a fracture or break to the bone immediately above the elbow. Children identified with an undisplaced supracondylar fracture will be randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups which will involve different methods of external immobilisation. Pain during application of these various methods and functional outcome will be measured.

This study aims to compare labelled white cell scintigraphy (99mTc-HMPAO or 111-In labelled leukocytes) +/- 99mTc-HDP bone scintigraphy to FDG PET-CT in suspected osteomyelitis of the extremities to evaluate the feasibility of FDG PET-CT for infection imaging and to gain preliminary data on the agreement between FDG PET-CT and labelled white cell imaging/bone scan in infection imaging of the peripheries.

We hypothesise that the structure of the primary visual cortex in severely visually impaired participants will differ from that in participants with normal vision. Our aim is to develop a method of identifying the primary visual cortex during exposure of the occipital lobe of the brain during neurosurgery.