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Topical Pentoxifylline Gel on Behcet's Disease Genital Ulcers
Behçet's Disease (BD) is a complex, chronic, relapsing, multi-system inflammatory disorder that is characterized by oral ulcers, genital ulcers in addition to ocular and skin symptoms. Genital ulcers are the second most common symptom of BD and occur in 57-93% of BD patients. The genital ulcers of BD clearly cause considerable morbidity for those affected. This will be one of the first trials of a topical product designed for accelerated healing of BD genital ulcers. There is no cure or FDA-approved therapies for BD genital ulcers and the treatment of recurrent genital ulcers that are associated with BD is palliative. Recent study...
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Total Knee Arthroplasty Guidance Systems Study
In total knee replacement operations, the surgeon uses techniques and instruments to guide the operation and ensure that all parts of the prosthesis (the artificial knee surfaces) are placed into the correct position. There are many techniques a surgeon can use to achieve accuracy in the operation. This study will compare the Principal Investigator's present precision-guided technique and instrumentation methods with a newly developed technique that uses a computer-based stereotactic guidance system. The purposes of the study are: 1.) to learn whether the use of the different guidance systems results in differences of accuracy of the...
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Tranexamic Acid in Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery
Posterior spinal surgery for adult deformity is associated with high incidence of blood loss and need for blood transfusion and intraoperative blood salvage, with associated increased cost and risk for perioperative complications. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is relatively inexpensive anti-fibrinolytic agent that has been proven effective for decreasing intraoperative blood loss in various surgical specialties. Intravenous TXA (ivTXA) is routinely used at our institution for adult spinal deformity cases. Meanwhile, topical TXA (tTXA) is an attractive alternative/adjunct to ivTXA used with good results in orthopedic arthroplasty and cardiac...
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Translating Metabolic Responses to Mechanical Insult Into Early Interventions to Prevent PTOA
This is a small-scale proof-of concept clinical trial of amobarbital as a treatment to prevent post-traumatic osteoarthritis in fractured ankle joints. The study is a double blind, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, stepwise trial. Amobarbital will be delivered to ankle joints in solution with hyaluronic acid (HA) as a vehicle. Amobarbital/HA injections (active dose) will be compared to HA alone (placebo dose). Our primary goal is to confirm safety, but we will also assess whether treatment improves chondrocyte viability and decreases synovial inflammation. The intervention that has proven to be effective in vitro and in...
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Treatment of CFS and Fibromyalgia With HRG 80 Red Ginseng
Will a unique form of ginseng be clinically helpful in those with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia?
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Treatment of Fibromyalgia and CFS With Ribose, Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Licorice, Schisandra and Green Tea Extract
Is a combination of Ribose, Ashwagandha, Rhodiola, Schisandra, licorice, and green tea extract helpful in CFS and FIbromyalgia?
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Treatment of Fibromyalgia With Recovery Factors
Treatment of Fibromyalgia and CFS with Recovery Factors
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Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis With Methotrexate: Predictors of Response
This is an open-label, prospective study of methotrexate in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) designed to characterize the subset of RA patients that respond best to methotrexate monotherapy. Eligible patients will be adults with RA who are naïve to prior methotrexate or combination disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy. Patients will be started on methotrexate at 15 mg once weekly, with the dose escalated to 20 mg once weekly at 8 weeks for patients not in remission. Patients will be assessed with joint counts and laboratory monitoring at study entry, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. Primary endpoint will be ...
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Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) With N-acetylcysteine
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease which often has debilitating and potentially life-threatening consequences. The cause of SLE is unknown and current therapies lack specificity and carry significant side-effects. We previously discovered the depletion of glutathione in lymphocytes of patients with SLE and associated this metabolic change with the elevation of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential. This study will titrate to tolerance during an initial 3 month open label period and then subjects will be randomized to one of 2 arms. It was determined by statistical analysis that each group...
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Treatments Against RA and Effect on FDG-PET/CT
In a randomized controlled clinical trial, investigators will compare the effects on [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) from two treatment regimens in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients deemed methotrexate inadequate responders (MTX-IRs). Two common RA treatments will be compared: triple therapy (sulfasalazine, methotrexate, and hydroxychloroquine) versus tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor (etanercept or adalimumab, plus background methotrexate for all subjects and hydroxychloroquine for subjects who were taking this at screening).
