ANZCTR search results

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is common irregular rapid heart rhythm which happens in about 5% of people. Some patients have symptoms regardless of medication and a procedure is needed to get rid of these symptoms. This procedure uses an electrical current to burn the pathway between the top and the bottom part of the heart. What is not known is the way the heart changes after the procedure and if the benefits are due only to a slower heart rate or more complex processes. One way to measure the heart's response to the procedure is by taking blood to test for cardiac biomarkers (BNP and cTnI). Currently it is unknown how these biomarkers respond immediately after the procedure. Our study will enroll 30 patients who are having this procedure. Blood samples will be taken from the heart and artery during the procedure to measure BNP and cTnI. How the levels of BNP and TnI react during the procedure will help us decide the site in the heart where these are released from and what triggers their release.

There is a high prevalence of malnutrition, sarcopenia (loss of muscle), and frailty (weakness) in older adults, including in rehabilitation. This study aims to assess how these syndromes overlap and how well each diagnostic tool can predict patient outcomes. This information will help to determine which syndromes should be assessed for on admission to rehabilitation so that intervention is directed appropriately, patients are not subjected to unnecessary tests, and the risk of poor outcomes for patients can be reduced. It is hypothesised that all three diagnoses will identify the same patients and that we will be able to find the condition that is the best predictor of poor outcomes.

In this research study, we will be trialling a new potential way of preventing a common form of anxiety experienced by first-time mothers, specifically, postnatal obsessions and compulsions. Participants will be more than 20 and less than 32 weeks’ pregnant with their first child, and will be randomly allocated (like the toss of a coin) to either watch a short (5-10 minute) online video on negative thoughts associated with becoming a parent, or will be waitlisted to receive the video after the study is finished. Participants will be asked to do three online surveys and telephone interviews (including the mental health screening interview) at three different time points: in pregnancy (when you first enter the study), and at 2-3 months and 5-6 months after your baby's expected due date. The postnatal interviews will include questions about your mental health and thoughts and feelings that some parents have after having their baby. We predict that the results of our study will show that receiving antenatal education (i.e. viewing the video) about negative thoughts associated with becoming a parent is linked with lower obsessions and compulsions in the postnatal period.

The research project is to test and validate a new system for monitoring focal or generalised epilepsy. The new monitoring system is called Minder and is comprised of an implanted device that communicates to an external device, mobile phone and secure cloud. These components, known as the Minder system, will record each subject's electroencephalogram (EEG) data, also known as brain waves, and export it to a secure cloud via the mobile phone. The subjects will be required to use this Minder system continuously throughout the study for a period of 6 months with an optional long-term follow-up up to 3 years post-implant, during both wake and sleep. The subjects continuous EEG recordings during the study will be downloaded from the secure cloud and reviewed by trained clinical staff to detect seizures.

To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition and dietetic intervention in improving clinical and patient-centred outcomes in COPD outpatients at nutritional risk. Hypothesis: Dietary modification and oral nutritional support (ONS) is clinically more effective than dietary modification alone in the management of malnutrition in COPD. Study Design: Parallel randomised control trial. Intervention: The intervention involved 4 individual appointments with a dietitian ranging from 30-60minutes in length at initial, 6 and 12 weeks with a follow up at 26 weeks. Over the intervention phase the participants were given individualised dietary advice to improve energy and protein intake using either food modification and fortification (control group) or oral nutritional supplements (intervention group). Outcome measures • Dietary intake will be collected using 24 hour food recall to assess changes in energy and protein intake. • The St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire will provide an assessment of respiratory health status and quality of life. • Body Mass Index (BMI) for assessment of malnutrition status

Despite sleep problems being one of the most common symptoms experienced following concussion in children and adolescents, there is little scientific evidence for its treatment. Therefore, this study aims to determine: 1) the basic characteristics of sleep disturbance in children and adolescents following concussion; 2) the impact of post-concussion clinical insomnia (PCCI) on recovery; and 3) if the addition of melatonin to sleep education can improve patient outcome. Only children and adolescents with sleep disturbance following concussion, aged 8-17 years, will be eligible to participate in the study. Eligible participants will be randomly allocated to either Treatment Group 1 (i.e. sleep hygiene education) or Treatment Group 2 (i.e. sleep hygiene education plus melatonin) for a duration of 4 weeks, and will be monitored throughout this period until they have recovered. The findings from this study will facilitate a better understanding of the nature of sleep problems in children and adolescents following concussion, and will also provide scientific evidence of whether current interventions are effective in their treatment.

This study aims to clinically validate use of the Baker Skin Field Cancerisation Tool (BSFCT) in people attending St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne dermatology clinic. Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or above, are attending St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne dermatology clinic, and have evidence of actinic damage (i.e. skin damage from ultraviolet exposure). Study details All participants in this study will attend a single [duration of 40 minutes - 1 hour] clinical appointment, administered by dermatologists. The session involves completing two separate questionnaires which will evaluate the quality of your life at the time of the clinic visit, assessment of the area or areas of your body with actinic damage to your skin by the dermatologists and taking photographs of these areas with actinic damage. The skin will be scored during the clinic visit and also later from the photographs using the Baker Skin Field Cancerisation Tool (BSFCT). Additionally, two other tools which have previously been developed by other groups for the assessment of actinic keratoses, the Actinic keratosis field assessment scale (AK-FAS) and the Actinic keratosis area and severity index (AKASI) will be used in both the clinic visits and from the photos. Scores from all of these tools will be correlated in order to determine the clinical validity of the BSFCT. It is hoped that this will be found to be a useful tool to assess skin damage.

Phase 2a trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 3 dose groups of CBL-514 on convexity or fullness of abdominal subcutaneous fat.

This research will provide insight into whether post-operative support interventions – other than physical therapy alone – can improve acute and long-term outcomes in spinal surgery patients. In addition to this, the study strives to determine whether an intervention must be behaviorally informed in order to improve patient outcomes. In addition to a CS and BCC arm, a control arm has been included in the study design as previous interventions in this area of research have found minimal variation between the BCC and corresponding intervention (which was not a control intervention), raising the question, are clinician support and BCC effective in comparison to standard treatment?

This research aims to determine whether comprehensive early intervention for injured workers at risk of developing chronic disability and unemployment results in faster return to work than standard care. Secondary aims include determining whether this early intervention is associated with improved emotional well being, quality of life and reduced interference caused by pain than standard care. Participants will be adults who have recently been injured at work and made a workers compensation claim through their insurer. A controlled intervention design will examine comprehensive early intervention versus treatment by a doctor in the community (standard care). We expect to determine whether comprehensive early intervention results in faster return to work, less cost and better treatment outcomes for recently injured workers.