Clinical trials

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a non-invasive brain stimulation method called continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) can improve attention in adults who have hemispatial neglect after stroke. Hemispatial neglect is a common consequence of stroke where a person fails to notice things on one side of their environment and body after brain damage despite having intact sensory organs. Current treatments include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and visual scanning training. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does cTBS applied to the cerebellum shift spatial attention toward the neglected side, as measured by eye movements during a visual exploration task? * Does cTBS change brain activity patterns linked to attention networks, as measured by EEG? Researchers will compare different conditions, cerebellar cTBS, cerebral cTBS and sham cTBS to see which approach best improves visuospatial attention. Sham cTBS looks and feels identical to real stimulation but does not deliver effective magnetic pulses. Participants, who are already admitted to the neurology and neurorehabilitation ward, will attend four study visits over approximately two weeks, each lasting about one hour. They receive active or sham cTBS at three stimulation sessions, each separated by at least 48 hours. They also have their eye movements recorded using a camera-based eye-tracking system before and after each session and have their brain activity recorded using EEG, a method that measures electrical activity through small electrodes on the scalp. Participation is voluntary. Participants may withdraw at any time without any impact on their regular medical care. The study is conducted at the Neurocenter of Luzerner Kantonsspital, Switzerland, and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF).

The aim of this clinical study is to investigate how the fitting of an EAS (electrical acoustic stimulation) based on electrocochleography (ECochG) thresholds compares to fitting based on pure tone audiogram thresholds in terms of speech intelligibility in quiet and noise. The personal feedback from the study participants regarding the question of better fitting and the resulting sound quality should also be included in the analysis.

This study investigates whether the timing of feeding expressed breast milk influences infant sleep and circadian (day-night) development in preterm infants. In early life, infants produce very little of the hormone melatonin, which plays a key role in regulating sleep and circadian rhythms. Breast milk naturally contains melatonin, and its levels vary across the day, with higher concentrations at night. This variation may provide important biological signals that help infants develop healthy sleep-wake patterns. However, expressed breast milk is often fed without considering the time it was expressed. This may disrupt the transfer of circadian signals from mother to infant. The aim of this randomised controlled trial is to determine whether feeding expressed breast milk according to the time of expression (e.g. giving night-time milk at night) improves sleep consolidation and circadian development compared with usual feeding practices. A total of 200 preterm infants born between 32+0 and 36+6 weeks' gestation who are receiving expressed breast milk will be enrolled and randomly assigned to one of two groups: Intervention group: preterm infants receive expressed breast milk matched to the time of day it was expressed (day, evening or night) Control group: preterm infants receive expressed breast milk without regard to timing (usual practice) The main outcome is sleep consolidation at 6 months of age, measured objectively using actigraphy (a small wearable device that records sleep and activity). Additional outcomes include sleep patterns over time, circadian development, melatonin exposure, gut microbiota composition, and clinical outcomes such as infections and neurodevelopment. The intervention does not involve any medication and uses the infant's usual nutrition. Risks are minimal and mainly relate to the additional effort required for milk labelling and timing. This study will provide evidence on whether a simple, low-risk change in feeding practice can support infant sleep and early-life circadian development, with potential benefits for child health and family well-being.

This feasibility study investigates the potential of hypnosis as a complementary therapy to improve attentional deficits and fatigue in patients with neurological diseases such as stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), and multiple sclerosis (MS). These patients often experience reduced spontaneous visual exploration and impaired functional independence despite current rehabilitation methods. By integrating hypnosis with standard care, and using EEG to monitor brain activity during hypnosis and sham-hypnosis sessions, this trial aims to evaluate the practicality, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of hypnosis in enhancing attention and reducing fatigue.

This prospective, two-arm, open-label clinical trial compares digital aftercare with traditional follow-up in adult patients after surgical treatment of uncomplicated distal radius or clavicle fractures. The primary objective is to assess functional recovery at three months, using the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) for wrist fractures and the QuickDASH for clavicle fractures. Secondary outcomes include range of motion, patient satisfaction, quality of life, complication rates, healthcare costs, and work disability. In the digital aftercare group, program adherence and user experience will also be evaluated through app usage data and a structured questionnaire. The study aims to determine whether digital aftercare is a clinically and economically equivalent alternative to standard in-person care.

The Swiss Spinal Tumor Registry is a prospective REDCap-based registry, collecting data of surgically treated patients with primary and metastatic tumors of the spine.

The purpose of the COMPLEX Registry is to prospectively and retrospectively collect baseline, clinical and procedural data of patients who have undergone PCI or CABG for complex and/ or calcified chronic CAD, irrespective of clinical presentation as well as to prospectively collect data about their clinical outcomes. The outcomes will be compared in different clinical subgroups (e.g. PCI vs. CABG). The impact of current PCI techniques/ devices, but also CABG strategies in different clinical settings and coronary artery lesions on cardiovascular outcomes will be assessed.

The purpose of the SIROOP Registry is to retrospectively and prospectively collect baseline, clinical and procedural characteristics of patients who have undergone PCI and are treated with either currently available sirolimus or paclitaxel coated DCBs (see Table 1), irrespective of clinical presentation as well as to prospectively collect data about their clinical outcomes. Outcomes will be compared in different clinical subgroups. The impact of current DCBs in different clinical settings and coronary artery lesions on cardiovascular outcomes will be assessed.

This study aims to compare the effectiveness and safety of two types of laryngeal masks- iGel and iGel Plus, used during elective surgeries. The focus is on evaluating differences in gastric insufflation and ventilation parameters between these two devices. Participants will be patients classified as ASA 1-2 with a BMI of less than 35, undergoing elective procedures. The study is designed as a prospective, randomized, controlled trial with 200 subjects divided evenly between the two laryngeal mask groups. Key outcomes include gastric cross-sectional area (CSA) measurements before and after surgery, ventilation metrics such as leakage pressure and PEEP, and the incidence of postoperative complications like nausea and respiratory issues.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation has become the dominant treatment strategy for patients with acute and chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) requiring revascularization. Nonetheless, PCI with stent implantation has some limitations and especially patients with severely calcified coronary lesions (approximately 10-20% of all patients with CAD) have an elevated risk for adverse outcomes, including target lesion failure (TLF) and stent thrombosis (ST). Several dedicated PCI devices have been developed for treatment of severely calcified lesions. Whereas especially two of them have shown promising results in smaller, prospective studies. First, the super high-pressure NC PCI balloon (OPN™ NC, SIS Medical AG, Frauenfeld, Switzerland) has been shown to represent an effective and safe device for lesion preparation. Second, the lately introduced Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy (IVL)™ balloon catheter (Shockwave Medical, Santa Clara, CA, USA) appears to be a safe and efficient alternative device for treatment of calcified coronary lesions. However, it remains unknown, if the OPN™ NC balloon is non-inferior to to IVL regarding lesion preparation and completeness of stent expansion in severely calcified lesions.

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two different types of nerve blocks in patients undergoing surgery for primary Total Knee Arthroplasty. The main question aim to answer is: \- is there a benefit in functional muscle power output of the leg? Participants will be randomized into either the intervention group or the control group and: * receive Subsartorial Saphenous Nerve Block (SSNB) + IPACK in intervention group (group 1) * receive Femoral Nerve Block (FNB) + IPACK in control group (group 2) Researchers will compare the 2 groups to see if there are differences in : * functional muscle power output of the leg? * muscle function, mobility, clinical and radiological results, ROM, pain control (NRS), opioid consumption, length of hospital stay, patient satisfaction, mobility, reduction of costs?

The purpose of the OPTIMISER Registry is to prospectively and retrospectively collect baseline, clinical and procedural data in patients who present with AMI and are treated with PCI as well as prospectively collect the clinical outcome data. Outcomes will be compared in different clinical subgroups. The impact of PCI in AMI in general as well as cardiovascular outcomes after AMI will be assessed.

Primary objective of this study is to explore the impact of a 3-week upper limb hand function training in patients with PD, MS or stroke. The benefits on hand function of this training program will be evaluated. The hypothesize is that the 3-week upper limb hand function training improves finger dexterity.

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related death worldwide. More than 80% of all lung tumors are Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers (NSCLC). Lymph node staging has a prognostic value and is crucial to establish the optimal treatment strategy in individual patients. It remains unknown whether dissecting the intrapulmonary lymph nodes (stations 13 and 14) is necessary for accurate staging and prognostication. Although suggested by several guidelines, these peripheral lymph nodes are not routinely examined in clinical routine for several reasons. Moreover, the prognostic significance of the visceral pleural invasion is controversial. Some studies showed a negative impact on OS and DFS in patients with histologic proved visceral pleura invasion. The mechanism to explain this negative effect is not fully understood. Given that the visceral pleura is very rich in lymphatic vessels, with an intercommunicating "network" arranged over the lung surface and penetrating into the lung parenchyma to join the bronchial lymph vessels with drainage to the various hilar nodes, we assume that the worse OS and DFS observed in these patients could be explained with the presence of metastatic lymph nodes (Station 13-14) that are not routinely examined. Methods: This is a prospective, multicenter study based on ad-hoc created prospectively database. The incidence of N1 lymph node metastasis overall and the incidence of metastasis to the different lymph node stations (Hilar 10/11, Lobar 12, Sublobar 13/14) will be calculated by dividing the number of the respective events by the patient years separately. To investigate the association between visceral pleural invasion and the presence of metastatic lymph nodes univariate and multivariate logistic regression models will be fitted to the data. Discussion: The primary outcome is to investigate the incidence of N1 metastases (especially stations 12,13,14) and his relationship with visceral pleural invasion. The secondary outcomes is to evaluate the impact of N1 metastases and/or visceral pleural invasion on long-term outcomes (OS and DFS) along with incidence and pattern of recurrence. DFS is defined as the time of surgical intervention to tumor recurrence or death, and OS is defined as the time of surgical intervention to death

All patients having an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) implanted and having follow-up at the Cantonal Hospital Lucerne (LUKS), the investigator center, are included in this retrospective ICD lead registry from 2006 onwards. Data is collected prospectively from december 2016 onwards. After certain ICD-leads tended to fail early the investigators aimed for a registry monitoring our patient population with defibrillator leads and evaluating their long-term performance.