Clinical Trials

Has your doctor recommended right heart cardiac catheterization for you? This study is investigating new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques that use a guidewire to help position a heart catheter within the heart. MRI fluoroscopy shows pictures of the heart so that doctors can watch while they work. Using the guidewire during MRI may improve the procedure of heart catheterization. To participate in this study, you must be at least 18 years old, and your doctor must have recommended right heart catheterization for you. This study is located in Bethesda, Maryland.

Are you an adult who does not have high blood pressure and is interested in research? This study will investigate how the brain regulates the body’s response to stress and how infection with HIV or pre-hypertension affects regulation. Your heart and brain activity will be measured while you are at rest, during a mentally stressful task, and while you feel angry. The study will also test whether a breathing exercise improves regulation. People with and without HIV and pre-hypertension will be included. To participate in this study, you must be between 21 and 65 years old and not have high blood pressure. This study is located in Miami, Florida.

Do you have a high-risk pregnancy? This study will investigate the use of a non-invasive scan called fetal magnetocardiography to detect potential problems in the fetus in five high-risk pregnancy conditions associated with stillbirth. The scan is normally used to look at fetal heart rhythms. To participate in this study, you must be at least 18 years old and pregnant with one of the following: having a stillbirth in a previous pregnancy, carrying identical twins, or having a fetus that has been diagnosed with major congenital heart disease, fetal hydrops, or fetal gastroschisis. This study takes place in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Are you a woman who is postmenopausal or a man older than 65? This study will investigate the effects of oral progesterone for older women and testosterone for older men on QT intervals. QT intervals that are increased by medicine can lead to dangerous heart rhythm problems. Researchers hope to learn more about why this happens and how to deliver safer doses. This study is located in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This study will identify and test the physiological effects of several sedentary behavior interruption strategies and explore the feasibility (i.e., likelihood of an individual performing the requested activities) of those strategies to inform the development of public policy surrounding sedentary behavior interruption. Long-term, the findings of this study will inform a large clinical trial that can test whether sedentary behavior reduction can decrease cardiovascular disease risk.

The purpose of this research is assess imaging and identification of soft plaque that undergoes large deformations or strain will identify plaque vulnerable to rupture which could lead to 'silent strokes'. Validation of current study results with MRI will foster use of real-time ultrasound (US) strain imaging and strain indices as a screening tool for identifying normal human participants susceptible to increased vascular aging and developing plaque prone to rupture or micro-embolization.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and around the world. The goal of this work is to develop and test a noninvasive ultrasound-based imaging technology to better identify patients at high risk of stroke so that appropriate and timely intervention may be administered to prevent it.

The purpose of the research is to understand structural plaque abnormalities that make a carotid plaque unstable and brake off (embolize) which would help to predict and treat individuals who are likely to suffer not only classic episodic major strokes but also cognitive impairment.

The goal of this work is to develop and test a noninvasive ultrasound-based imaging technology to better identify patients at high risk of stroke so that appropriate and timely intervention may be administered to prevent it.

Elucidate the influence of intense light therapy pretreatment in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. We hypothesize that intense light exposure is associated with the peripheral stabilization of Per2 in human buccal swabs and plasma samples before surgery and with a decrease of Troponin I levels after surgery.