High Blood Pressure clinical trials at University of California Health

For this study, the investigators will be collecting data based on patients' random selection to two different approved standard of care treatments for ascites: Subjects will get randomized into either Group A: Large Volume Paracentesis (LVP) with albumin infusion, or Group B: an early transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure.

The goal of the study is to promote equitable hypertension (HTN) management across the diverse patient population found in Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS) clinics. To achieve this goal, the study team will conduct provider- and patient-focused outreach strategies to understand how to best support adoption of blood pressure management practices already available within LAC DHS. LAC DHS clinics will be randomly assigned to one of three study conditions: 1) provider-focused outreach, 2) patient-focused outreach, and 3) usual outreach. The study will occur across 3 years with patient- and provider-focused outreach occurring in Year 1 and 2. In Year 3, study initiated patient- and provider-focused outreach will stop, and clinic use of patient- and provider-focused outreach practices will be observed by the study team. Provider-focused outreach includes increasing cultural awareness of factors that hinder and support blood pressure control, increasing access to blood pressure medications, and providing blood pressure management education. Patient-focused outreach includes using culturally sensitive educational materials and reminders to improve patient understanding of blood pressure, education on how to manage the condition, and increasing awareness of available blood pressure management resources. Clinics assigned to the usual outreach condition will operate as per usual in Year 1 but will receive patient- and provider-focused outreach in Year 2.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) are severe clinical conditions that, despite advances in therapeutics over the past 20 years, lead to serious morbidity and mortality. Guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PH) recommend the use of a multiparametric risk stratification tool to determine severity of disease, which should guide initial therapy and therapy modulation. This multiparametric risk stratification schema includes objective assessment of exercise capacity, right ventricular function and hemodynamic parameters in order to classify patients into severity categories. Cardiac index (CI) and right atrial pressure (RAP), measured via right heart catheterization (RHC), are the hemodynamic parameters used in risk assessment of PH. Arguably, stroke volume index (SVI) is the most important hemodynamic parameter for assessment of PH severity and there is currently no validated method for noninvasive measurement of cardiac output (CO), CI or SVI. Currently, a major obstacle in the field is that hemodynamic measurements are not obtained on a regular basis in the risk assessment and therapy modulation of patients with PAH and CTEPH. If a noninvasive method of hemodynamic measurement could be correlated with other objective measurements of risk assessment, it could become an invaluable tool in therapy initiation and modulation in the ambulatory setting. This is a single center study to evaluate the use of non-invasive measurement of CO and stroke volume to assess risk and response to treatment in patients with PAH and non- operable CTEPH. We anticipate to enroll a total of 100 subjects at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. A maximum of 10 hour in total for the study including the consent process, pre-procedure care, RHC procedure, and follow up visit. The initial visit will be approximately 4 hours with the RHC procedure itself will only be 20 minutes. Each follow up visit will be 1.5 hour. Patients with known or suspected PAH or CTEPH will undergo a RHC as part of his or her standard of care. Three techniques of CO measurement will be performed sequentially at the time of the RHC. The device that will be used is the Edwards ClearSight system and EV1000 clinical platform, a device that measures NIBP. Patients will be followed over the period of 1 year every 3 months to obtain serial measurements for six-minute walk distance (6MWD), World Health Organization (WHO)/New York Heart Association Functional Class (FC), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) or N-terminal-pro hormone BNP (NT-proBNP), and non-invasive hemodynamic measurements. Additional visits will be scheduled to obtain the serial measurements one month prior and one month following if a patient is initiating or changing PH-specific therapy. As this is a study looking at the feasibility of non-invasive measurement of cardiac output and stroke volume for risk assessment and response to therapy in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) or chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), study personnel performing the study procedures will not be blinded to the clinical diagnosis and the management of the subject.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate superiority of macitentan 75 milligrams (mg) in prolonging the time to the first clinical events committee (CEC)-adjudicated morbidity or mortality (M/M) event in participants with symptomatic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) compared to macitentan 10 mg.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with worsening breathlessness and exercise capacity, right-heart failure, and adverse outcomes including increased mortality. Moreover, PH disease progression can be rapid; pharmaceutical intervention in early-stage Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) can improve symptoms and functional capacity, and delayed diagnosis and treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) likely reduces survival.