ANZCTR search results

The general aim of this project is to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo, placebo-controlled clinical trial of azithromycin to determine whether treatment from infancy is safe and will prevent the onset of bronchiectasis. One hundred and thirty infants will be recruited from CF clinics in Australia and New Zealand and treated from 3 months to three years of age. The primary outcome will be the proportion with radiologically-defined bronchiectasis at 3 years of age. Safety and mechanistic evaluations will also be undertaken.

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is common, associated with considerable disability and high morbidity and often resistant to treatment with standard approaches (~30% of patients meet standard definitions for treatment resistant depression (TRD)). There is currently an overwhelming need in the community for the development of better and novel treatments for depression. Despite the demand, there are relatively few treatment options available to patients with TRD. One of the only substantially new treatments developed in recent years has been repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Despite the considerable bulk of evidence demonstrating that rTMS can be effective in the treatment of depression, a major issue that limits its wider use is that only between 40-50% of patients respond to rTMS treatment. While this is a good response rate in a group of patients with significant depression who have failed to respond to other treatments, participation in rTMS treatment involves a considerable commitment of time and resources (stimulation is usually provided five days per week to outpatients who attend for up to six weeks). It is therefore essential to be able to identify patients who are more or less likely to respond to treatment. This research aims to provide a practical and clinically useful approach to predicting antidepressant response to rTMS treatment. In addition, by providing greater information about the underlying causes of depression and how these interact with treatments, this research may ultimately assist in developing more effective therapies for TRD. This would have a significant impact on the considerable numbers of Australians with depression who have tried standard therapies and yet remain significantly unwell. Therefore the current project aims to use both novel and more established neuroscience methodologies (namely electroencephalogy (EEG), TMS and near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS)) to investigate whether such techniques can be used to predict response to rTMS treatment in depression.

Non-complicated infantile haemangiomas have been followed up with minimal intervention because of spontaneous involution. However the involution phase is slow and most children go to school with a disfiguring infantile haemangioma. Propranolol has been observed to accelerate the involution phase and a small retrospective chart review and a single case report have suggested that topical timolol maleate gel 0.5% may reduce the proliferative phase of smal and superficial infantile haemangiomas with reduced systemic complications.

This study will examine the effect of a new solution on the ocular surface, subjective ratings of comfort and antimicrobial efficacy of the solution by lens-case examination. The hypotheses are these outcomes will be similar to historical control.

Purpose of this study is to test whether the Acceledent device will decrease the amount of tooth root resorption caused by light buccally directed forces from partial braces for 4 weeks. The Acceledent's purpose is to accelerate tooth movement. The 2nd phase of the study will determine if space closure after tooth extraction is faster than if no Acceledent is used.

Blastocystis is a common enteric parasite but it is not known if it pathogenic. Many reports suggest that Blastocystis causes Irritable Bowel-like symptoms. In this study we treated 11 patients with gastrointestinal symptoms who were positive for Blastocystis in their stool in order to determine if this therapy made any difference to their symptoms. We also compared Blastocystis subtypes between symptomatic patients and their asymptomatic household contacts (human and animal). We used PCR subtyping tools to assess faecal carriage of Blastocystis which is a more accurate tool than simple smears or culture.

This study will compare treatment at home versus treatment in hospital for low-risk conditions. We wish to find out if treatment at home is better/worse/same in terms of clinical outcomes, acceptability to patients and healthcare costs. The hypotheses tested are that a pathway for paramedic referral of patients to a home-based treatment service for community management of low-acuity injury or illness will: a) lead to clinical outcomes that are equivalent to ED based care; b) have a cost benefit, reducing the costs of healthcare provision for that episode of care; and c) be acceptable to patients and meet high levels of patient satisfaction.

The primary purpose is to assess the ability of new techniques of echocardiographic assessment of heart function in detecting early heart disease in patients with type II diabetes mellitus and to assess the impact of 12 month period of neurohormonal inhibition in improving heart muscle function and degree of scarring in these patients

The purpose of this study is to determine the safety and device performance of the Spinal Modulation Neurostimulation System in the treatment of chronic pain.

This double-blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial will examine the safety and efficacy of intranasal oxytocin for the treatment of alcohol dependence. It is hypothesised that participants randomised to the oxytocin condition, compared to participants randomised to the placebo condition will have a higher rate of treatment completion, experience reduced number, severity, and duration of alcohol withdrawal symptoms and will report fewer days of alcohol use at one month follow-up.