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.

The purpose of this study is to compare reintubation rates and outcomes of patients treated with high-flow nasal canula oxygen therapy (HFNC) and patients treated with provider choice of standard care.

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.