Clinical Trials

Do you or your child have Williams-Beuren syndrome (WS) or Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis (SVAS)? Symptoms of both conditions include vascular problems that can be mild or serious. Researchers want to find out why only some people with WS and SVAS have serious symptoms while others do not. Participants in this study will provide blood or saliva samples to help researchers see what DNA or environmental changes affect the severity of the disease. This study is located at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

Are you or your child between the ages of 3 and 21 and experiencing pain episodes? This study tests a treatment called arginine therapy for pain episodes in children with sickle cell disease. Researchers are investigating how safe and effective this treatment is, as well as how arginine is metabolized in the body and its effects on cells. To participate in this study, you or your child must have sickle cell disease and pain that requires medical attention. This study takes place in multiple locations in the United States.

Do you or your child have severe asthma that is not easily controlled by inhaled corticosteroids? This study evaluates the use of five different asthma medicines to treat adults and adolescents with severe asthma. To participate in this study, you or your child must be 12 years old or older. This study takes place in multiple locations across the United States.

Do you or your child have primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) or primary immune deficiency (PID)? This study aims to identify genes that cause these two conditions, which can have similar symptoms. The results from this study will help researchers find new ways to treat breathing and hearing problems caused by these two conditions in a cross-sectional cohort of patients with PCD and PID. Participants in this study must be 5 to 45 years old. This study is taking place at multiple locations in the United States and in Canada.

Do you or your child have symptoms of a serious lung disease but no diagnosis? This study aims to develop new ways to diagnose primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and primary immune deficiency (PID), two conditions that can have similar symptoms. Researchers will combine information from genetic testing, lung imaging, and lung function tests to diagnose ant tell the difference between these two conditions. Participants in this study must be 5 to 45 years old. This study is taking place at multiple locations in the United States and in Canada.

Ventilated pediatric patients are frequently over-sedated and the majority suffer from delirium, a form of acute brain dysfunction that is an independent predictor of increased risk of dying, length of stay, and costs. Universally prescribed sedative medications-the GABA-ergic benzodiazepines-worsen this brain organ dysfunction and independently prolong duration of ventilation and ICU stay, and the available alternative sedation regimen using dexmedetomidine, an alpha-2 agonist, has been shown to be superior to benzodiazepines in adults, and may mechanistically impact outcomes through positive effects on innate immunity, bacterial clearance, apoptosis, cognition and delirium. The mini-MENDS trial will compare dexmedetomidine and midazolam, and determine the best sedative medication to reduce delirium and improve duration of ventilation, and functional, psychiatric, and cognitive recovery in our most vulnerable patients-survivors of pediatric critical illness.

The investigators' central hypothesis is that early combination therapy with two PAH-specific oral therapies that have been shown to be well tolerated in the pediatric population, sildenafil and bosentan, will result in better World Health Organization (WHO) functional class at 12 months after initiation of PAH treatment than therapy with sildenafil alone.

The primary goal of this study is to determine whether curative therapies for individuals with SCD will result in improved or worsening heart, lung, and kidney damage when compared to individuals with SCD receiving standard therapy. The investigators will also explore whether certain genes are associated with a good or bad outcome after curative therapy for SCD.

Do you or your child have sickle cell disease and also have an interest in contributing to long-term data collection? This study is monitoring patients and collecting biological samples from patients who have sickle cell disease to better understand long-term outcomes. Participants can be any age and must have sickle cell disease. This study is located in six sites in Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

Do you or your child have pulmonary hypertension and want to help research? This study is looking to better understand pulmonary hypertension in children who have this condition. To participate in this study, you or your child must be 21 years old or younger and must have been diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension before the age of 18. This study is located at multiple sites across the United States and Canada, including California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Alberta, Canada.