ANZCTR search results

The purpose of this study is to establish a predictive model of liver toxicity using a new MRI and PET scan protocol Who is it for? You may be eligible for this study if you are aged 18 or older and have a diagnosis of liver cancer. Your doctor may have recommended for you to undergo surgery or a special type of radiation therapy called Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT). Study details If you consent to participate, you will be asked to undergo up to two additional scanning sessions involving PET and MRI scans. The first scanning session will be conducted in the weeks prior to your treatment. If your liver tumour is treated with SBRT the second scanning session will be conducted approximately one month following treatment. If your liver tumour is treated with surgery the second scanning session will be conducted in the week following your operation if it is feasible to do so and you have adequately recovered from surgery. You will be scanned on a PET/MR scanner which will simultaneously acquire PET and MRI images. You are required to fast for at least 4 hours prior to the scan, but you can drink water if required. The scanning sessions take approximately 30-60 minutes between 1 to 2 hours, and you will be in the molecular imaging department for 2-3 hours. Pictures are taken with you lying on the scanner bed with your arms above your head. The bed moves through the scanner which acquires pictures as the bed passes. After the test, you will remain slightly radioactive for the rest of the day, so we recommend that you avoid prolonged contact with children and pregnant women for about 6 hours after the start of the scan. Scanning sessions may be performed at the Princess Alexandra Hospital or the Herston Imaging Research Facility (HIRF), located on the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital campus. As part of your usual care you will undergo an indocyanine green (ICG) test which provides the medical team with an estimate of your overall liver function to help them determine your best treatment. As part of this research project you may also be asked to undergo this test again following treatment prior to the second scanning session. All your medical treatment will be conducted as per usual according to the best possible standard of care as determined by your treating medical team It is hoped this research will lead to more accurate prediction of liver function after surgery or radiation therapy which could increase the proportion of patients appropriately selected for treatments, and reduce toxicity by protecting parts of the liver.

Smart phone technology may offer an opportunity to collect data on patient outcomes following ICU admission and discharge so as to better future researchers. Using apps installed on a smart phone patient markers of patient function can be remotely monitored and automatically collated without the need for inconvenient time consuming questionnaires or clinic follow ups. The Patient Outcomes Measure app can collect such data as effectively as conventional validated historical questionnaire methods.

Resistance training (RT) is the only known non-pharmacological intervention for improving strength and muscle mass, both of which play significant roles in maintaining and improving human health. Despite this, engagement in RT remains poor, with common barriers to participation including a lack of time and a high perception of difficulty associated with commonly-recommended RT programs. There is a need, therefore, for identification of RT interventions that are time efficient, low in complexity, and enjoyable to perform. Recent evidence suggests that high-load, low-volume RT can achieve outcomes that are similar-to-superior to traditional lower-load and higher-volume RT, with the added benefit of eliciting more positive affective responses (Buckner et al, 2018). Hence these RT protocols have the potential to promote more engagement in RT and be more sustainable long-term, both of which are likely to lead to improved population health outcomes. This project will provide new evidence for the effectiveness of low complexity, high-load and low-volume RT for improving strength, muscle mass, and neuromuscular performance, as well as the influence of these interventions for eliciting positive affective responses that may improve long-term RT adherence.

Junior Doctors have significantly higher levels of psychological distress compared to other doctors further along in their career (BeyondBlue, 2013). To date, interventions for doctors have focused on individual factors (West et al, 2016), however, there is recognition that interventions positioned at the structural and organisational level also need to be implemented (Shanafelt and Noseworthy, 2017). The aim is to develop an online, mobile responsive, education program for physician supervisors that enhances their confidence in supporting the mental health needs of their trainees and promote managerial behaviour most likely to result in a more mentally healthy workplace. We hypothesise that supervisors’ confidence and behaviours in discussing mental health matters with their trainees will be enhanced.

This trial is to determine the efficacy of HBOT in addition to steroids in the treatment of ISSHL against conventional steroids alone. There has been increasing evidence of efficacy and a recent Cochrane review suggested a large well designed RCT is needed to understand the role of HBOT. There are wide differences in clinical management across Australia due to the lack of evidence of which strategy is best. This trial hopes to bring clarity to the best management in terms of hearing outcomes.

The objective of this study will be to compare the effectiveness of the currently marketed Co-phenylcaine Forte spray with a reformulated Co-phenylcaine spray incorporating taste masking and flavouring agents (Co-Phenylcaine Neo spray), when administered intra-nasally, in a group of patients undergoing nasendoscopy. The study will be an equivalence trail (10% equivalence margin) using a randomised, blinded, cross-over design with participants undergoing two nasendoscopy procedures approximately 4 weeks apart. Participants will be asked to rate the taste associated with the spray and rate any pain or discomfort they feel following insertion of the nasendoscope. It is hypothesised that both interventions will have an equivalent effect in reducing discomfort and the new formulation will have a preferred taste.

There is an imperative to find alternative care pathways for the 15% of people who are unlikely to benefit from knee total joint replacement (TJR). Chronic low back pain shares a similar multi-dimensional risk profile to knee joint osteoarthritis. Much effort has been directed to developing targeted treatment to subgroups of people with chronic low back pain who have poorer prognosis based on their group profiles. In keeping with this, this research group has developed an individualised model of care for chronic low back pain that effectively targets the multidimensional complexity of the disorder, termed ‘cognitive functional therapy’ (CFT) (Vibe Fersum, et al. 2019). Such an approach may offer a promising alternative to knee TJR in those patients at risk of poor outcome with the procedure, but before this intervention can be tested in randomised, controlled trials there is a need to explore the potential effectiveness, treatment mechanisms and moderators in this population. The main aim of this study is to test Cognitive Functional Therapy in a small but diverse sample of eight people with knee osteoarthritis who are at risk of not benefitting from a total knee replacement.

The main aim of the PIVOT study is to evaluate the effect of a simplified “one-stop-shop’ test and treat intervention on increasing the number of prisoners with hepatitis C (HCV) who initiate HCV therapy following reception. The study will be conducted in two phases: a control period and intervention period. The control period will allow observation of throughput in the HCV care cascade in the existing Justice Health & Mental Health Network (JH&FMHN) model of care. The intervention combines point-of-care finger-stick HCV testing (for HCV RNA, which tests for the virus indicating active infection), non-invasive liver fibrosis assessment (to check liver scarring), and treatment prescription (if HCV-positive), followed by linkage to ongoing hepatitis care all in the same 60-minute visit. The study will also evaluate the efficiency (time taken to each step of the care cascade) and acceptability (number of participants refusing to participate) of the intervention, as well as the rates of participants clearing the virus post-treatment, and treatment uptake. Participants will be recruited from new receptions to Mid North Coast Correctional Centre. The intervention method will be evaluated against the existing standard of care model for effectiveness, efficiency, and acceptability.

The purpose of this study is to identify the time point of peak serum potassium levels during the reperfusion phase of adult liver transplantation. We aim to assess the the changes in blood potassium levels from baseline values during reperfusion, and evaluate clinical factors that may be associated with the development of hyperkalaemia. Who is it for? This is a retrospective study evaluating potassium levels in adult patients undergoing primary orthotropic liver transplantation. Study details The aim of this study is to quantify the changes in potassium during the reperfusion phase of liver transplantation. Elevated recipient serum potassium levels have been identified as an independent risk factor for post-operative mortality in liver transplantation. Further, severe hyperkalemia at reperfusion can result in cardiac arrhythmias and cardiac asystole if not adequately monitored and treated. We consider the incidence and severity of hyperkalaemia in this setting. In addition, we will highlight the importance of evaluating the changes in potassium relevant to patients undergoing liver transplantation. It is hoped that this study will be hypothesis generating and provide valuable data for power calculations for future studies on evaluating changes in potassium values during reperfusion. Further, we will provide an in-depth insight of the changes in serum potassium levels during the reperfusion stage to guide clinicians caring for such patients.

The overall goal of this project is to investigate the effectiveness of a universal, mental health and suicide prevention program – Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) – for reducing suicidal ideation and increasing help-seeking. The study will test the effectiveness of the YAM intervention for decreasing suicidal ideation from baseline to post-intervention and at 3-month follow-up compared to a waitlist control group.