Clinical trials

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) remains a major public health challenge with substantial morbidity and mortality despite the availability of effective guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT). Although four major drug classes have been shown to significantly improve survival and reduce hospitalizations, real-world implementation remains suboptimal. In addition to underutilization by healthcare providers, poor medication adherence among patients-reported to range between 29% and 63%-represents a critical barrier to achieving optimal therapeutic benefit. The Visualize-Pro study is a prospective, exploratory pilot study designed to evaluate a simple, patient-centered intervention aimed at improving medication adherence in patients with HFrEF. The intervention consists of patient-friendly graphical visualizations illustrating the survival benefits and risk reduction associated with optimal heart failure therapy. These materials are designed to enhance patient understanding, motivation, and engagement with prescribed treatments. To objectively assess medication adherence, this study incorporates therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) as a gold standard method, in addition to established patient-reported outcome measures such as quality of life and adherence questionnaires. Blood samples will be collected at predefined study visits, and drug levels (or their metabolites) will be analyzed in collaboration with a specialized laboratory to quantify adherence. Participants will be followed over a predefined study period with serial assessments at scheduled visits. The primary objective is to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the intervention in improving medication adherence. Secondary objectives include assessing changes in patient-reported outcomes and exploring associations between adherence and clinical parameters. As a pilot study, the results are intended to inform the design of a future large-scale, multicenter trial. Ultimately, this approach aims to provide a scalable and low-threshold strategy to improve adherence to life-saving therapies in heart failure, thereby contributing to reduced morbidity and mortality in this high-risk population.

This single-center quality improvement project evaluates preoperative fasting times before elective procedures requiring anesthesiology care. The project aims to reduce prolonged fasting for clear fluids by implementing a local standard operating procedure (SOP) allowing patients to drink clear liquids until being called to the operating room ("drink until called"), supported by staff education and fasting instruction cards. Fasting times and selected perioperative outcomes will be assessed before and after implementation.

The primary goal of this study is to observe whether PRP promotes the wound healing before a radiation therapy or not, compared to the natural healing of a tooth extraction socket. Secondary aim is to monitore the effect on the pain perception.

PVRI-GoDeep is a PH Meta-Registry, run under the umbrella of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute (PVRI). It merges anonymized PH patient related data from various local registries around the world run under the responsibility of PVRI members. It will be operated under the auspices of the University of Giessen/Giessen PH center. Combining deep phenotyping with worldwide outreach, PVRI-GoDeep aims to offer insights into specific geographical and ethnical profiles of PH, to deepen the epidemiological, clinical and molecular understanding of this disease and to promote strategies for improved individualized treatment of PH patients.

In order to reduce the incidence of IOH, various goal-directed therapy (GDT) protocols have already been introduced with success regarding the reduction of postoperative AKI and MINS. However, these studies used an invasive hemodynamic monitoring which offered a continuous surveillance of the blood pressure. In contrast, standard non-invasive blood pressure monitoring results in a blind gap between two measurements (mostly three or five minutes). In order to address this limitation, different continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring devices have been introduced. The next evolutional step of non-invasive cardiac output monitoring was to prevent IOH before their onset by using the Hypotension Prediction Index (HPI). Based on the Edward ́s monitoring platform, HPI is a monitoring tool which aims to predict IOH (defined as MAP\<65 mmHg for at least one minute) up to 15 min before its onset. The underlying machine learning based algorithm uses analyses features from the pressure waveform and was first calculated from a large retrospective data set of surgical patients and subsequently validated in a prospective cohort. In this study HPI showed a sensitivity of 88% and specificity of 87% for predicting IOH 15 min before its onset. Since then, own and studies of other working groups confirmed the effective prevention of IOH by the use of HPI-based GDT. Until today the arterial waveform analysis was dependent on invasive arterial measurement but since Edwards Lifesciences already promoted the start of the HPI on the ClearSight platform a non-invasive measurement will soon be possible. Further, until now it has not yet been proven that the perioperative use of a continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring has a beneficial effect on the patient´s outcome. Study objectives The aim of the study is to investigate whether a hemodynamic protocol based on continuous non-invasive cardiac output monitoring (ClearSight system) compared to standard care can reduce the incidence of IOH, postoperative AKI, and MINS in patients undergoing major trauma and orthopedic surgery.

The aim of this study is to investigate the frequency and implications of pulmonary hypertension in lung cancer patients. To do so, data will be collected from all lung cancer patients at the university hospital Giessen. All data will be analyzed for possible hints of pulmonary hypertension as a comorbidity in lung cancer patients. All information will be generated from the regular guidelines based course of treatment and there will be no interventions. This study will serve as a prospective register for all lung cancer patients treated at the university hospital Giessen.

This prospective single centre longitudinal cohort study enrols preterm infants ≤32+0 weeks of gestation and/or birthweight ≤1500g and their parents. Following a baseline period additional Family Centred Care elements are introduced as potentially better practices, these elements focus on four areas: the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) environment, staff training, parental education and psychosocial support to the families. The effect of the implementation of additional Family Centred Care elements on infant, parent and staff outcomes are assessed. The parallel data collection enables to study the interrelation between these three important areas of research.

By the end of 2019 a new coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2, was discovered in patients with pneumonia in Wuhan, China. In the following weeks and months the virus spread globally, having a tremendous impact on global health and economy. To date, no vaccine or therapy is available. Severe courses of the infection not only affect the lungs, but also other organs like the heart, kidney, or liver. The lack of preexisting immunity might at least partially explain the affection of extra pulmonary organs not yet seen in infections due to other respiratory viruses. In this observational investigation the study group will follow up on patients that have been hospitalized due to a SARS-CoV-2 infection, and monitor sequelae in various organs, with an emphasis on the pulmo-cardiovascular system. Our that in some patients, organ damage will persist and require long-term medical care.

Chronic heart failure affects up to three million people in Germany, with prevalence increasing with age. It is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease-related deaths. Patients with heart failure undergoing non-cardiac surgery face higher risks of complications and death compared to those with coronary artery disease. Despite guidelines recommending comprehensive preoperative evaluation, there is no systematic risk assessment structure in place, leading to inadequate perioperative care. This study aims to evaluate a multidisciplinary approach for high-risk patients aged 65 and above, regardless of prior heart failure diagnosis, to mitigate postoperative complications. The investigators measure the NTpro BNP before surgery and include patients with NTproBNP\> 450 in this study and randomize them either to the standard care group or the intervention group.The hypothesis is that standardized risk screening and multidimensional care (Intervention group) can reduce complications in these patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery.

Giessen Pulmonary Hypertension Registry and Biobank

CEDATA GPGE collects clinical data of children and adolescents with IBD from paediatric gastroenterology centers in german-speaking countries. Data is obtained from participating centers in pseudonymized way via an online platform at the beginning and during followup of the disease. The leading working group of the paediatric gastroenterology society GPGE e.V. includes 15 experts in the field who meet twice yearly and coordinate research and quality improvement initiatives.

The trial will test the effectiveness and toxicity of subcutaneous treatment with one cycle of cladribine in patients with hairy cell leukemia requiring treatment. They have to be untreated so far or may be pretreated with alpha-interferon.

The first object of the study is the validation of a translation of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Stroke Dysphagia Screen with determination of sensitivity, specificity, interrater reliability (especially between different professional groups) and criterion validity. If the German translation proves to be suitable, it will also be validated on general neurological patients, i.e. patients on a neurological ward without a stroke.

The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of gag reflex in healthy young and healthy older subjects as well as in acute stroke patients, in patients with Parkinsons´s Disease, Myasthenia gravis, Multiple Sclerosis and in geriatric patients.

The aim of the prospective observational TEDRAS - Follow-up Trial is to investigate the limitations of the initial TEDRAS - Trial in patients with acute Dysphagia is a common consequence from ischemic stroke and it correlates with an increased risk of pulmonary complications such as aspiration pneumonia and an increased mortality risk. TEDRAS-Trial (Transesophageal Echocardiography: Dysphagia Risk in the Acute Phase After Stroke; ClinTrial.gov identifier NCT04302883) was the first randomized and controlled trial to address the question of the extent to which TEE increases dysphagia risk in acute stroke patients. The results of the study confirmed the hypothesis that dysphagia severity worsens after TEE in the intervention group. The aim of the prospective observational TEDRAS - Follow-up Trial is to investigate the limitations of the initial TEDRAS - Trial in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

The aim of the planned study project is to assess the current situation regarding the treatment of patients with stroke. Specifically, various treatment strategies are to be associated and correlated with clinical endpoints, mortality or functional outcome in order to generate arguments for or against individual aspects of therapy. The focus will be on unresolved treatment approaches in acute therapy (e.g. periprocedural management, such as blood pressure, blood glucose, temperature, or airway management, during recanalizing therapies) as well as in secondary prevention on the stroke unit or intensive care unit, such as starting point, mode, and dosage of antithrombotic therapies.

This study evaluates changes in swallowing using endoscopic swallowing studies and measuring of pharyngeal sensitivity, taste and smell in stroke patients. Younger (\<60 years) and older (\>60 years) volunteers will serve as control.