Clinical Research Directory

Effect of Comprehensive Spa Care on Kidney and Urological Conditions: A Clinical Study in Adult Patients

This is a single-arm, pretest-posttest study evaluating the effects of a 21-day comprehensive spa care (Komplexní lázeňská léčebně rehabilitační péče, KLP) on patients with nephrological and urological conditions treated at a spa facility in Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic. The study enrolls 150 adult patients (75 men and 75 women), aged 40-70 years, who are prescribed KLP for indications VIII/1 (recurrent and chronic non-tuberculous inflammation of the kidneys and urinary tract), VIII/2 (nephrolithiasis without urinary tract obstruction, nephrocalcinosis), VIII/3 (conditions after kidney and urinary tract surgery), and VIII/4 (chronic prostatitis or prostatovesiculitis resistant to pharmacological treatment). The spa treatment consists of the use of natural healing resources of Mariánské Lázně, including a mineral spring drinking cure, balneotherapy (mineral water baths), peloid therapy, carbon dioxide therapy, climatotherapy, exercise therapy, and dietotherapy. The standard treatment duration is 21 days, during which each patient receives a total of 63 therapeutic procedures and drinks mineral spring water three times daily. Patients undergo assessments at the beginning (days 1-3) and at the end (days 19-21) of their treatment. Assessments include physical examination, abdominal and urinary tract ultrasound, blood and urine sampling with laboratory analysis, body composition measurement using bioelectrical impedance analysis (InBody), and psychometric questionnaire surveys. The primary aim of the study is to objectively assess the therapeutic effect of comprehensive spa care on nephrological and urological diseases by comparing pre-treatment and post-treatment clinical, laboratory, and patient-reported outcomes. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen (decision of November 2, 2023, ref. no. 437/23).

Randall's Plaque Study: Pathogenesis and Relationship to Nephrolithiasis

Kidney stones are very common. They affect 3-5% of the population in the United States. Many people are hospitalized for the treatment of kidney stones and some may die. Better understanding of what causes kidney stones is useful in both the treatment and prevention of kidney stones. However, exactly what causes kidney stones is unknown. The most common type of kidney stones contains calcium, which sometimes is attached to a part of the kidney important in producing the final urine, called the papilla. The investigators have noticed that persons who form kidney stones seem to have more papilla with stones attached. They propose to study these areas of the papilla, called Randall's plaques (named after their discoverer), in patients undergoing surgery for kidney stones.