Clinical Research Directory

Immune-Inflammatory Markers in Aortic Dissection

Identifying early on which patients with acute aortic dissection require closer monitoring may help with care planning. If simple, inexpensive values obtained from routine blood tests can provide additional information for assessing risk, this knowledge could in the future help physicians follow their patients more effectively. The aim of this study is to investigate this possibility scientifically. It is based on the evaluation of information obtained from blood tests that are already being performed. Its purpose is to generate general knowledge that may contribute to the care of future patients. The study itself does not change decisions about your treatment; all decisions regarding your treatment and follow-up rest with your doctor, who evaluates your condition in its entirety. It is designed to evaluate the relationship between preoperative/postoperative systemic immune-inflammatory and nutritional markers (SII, NLR, PLR, CAR, PNI) and indicators of mortality and morbidity (length of stay and changes in kidney function) in patients with acute aortic dissection. The goal is to investigate the potential of easily accessible laboratory parameters to contribute to risk stratification. The relationship between the markers and outcomes will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods. This study is based on the evaluation of information in patients' existing medical records and blood tests. The data are processed in accordance with the relevant ethical rules and privacy principles, with patient identity kept confidential. Taking part in the study does not require any additional procedure, additional blood draw, or change in treatment.

The Effect of Emotional FreedomTechnique on Postoperative Pain, Pain Belief and Anxiety in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Planned Patients

When the literature is examined, there is almost no application of EFT on surgical patients. In a quasi-experimental study conducted by Kalroozi et al. (2022) with 70 women who underwent breast cancer surgery and received complementary treatment, the effect of EFT on sleep quality and happiness level was investigated. Six sessions of EFT were applied to the control group. A statistically significant difference was found between the intervention and control groups in sleep quality and happiness scores before and after the intervention. In a randomised controlled study conducted by Menevşe et al. (2024) examining the effect of EFT applied to patients before laparoscopic cholecystectomy on surgical fear and anxiety, 56 patients were included in the control and 56 patients in the intervention group. While routine care and treatment practices were applied to the control group, EFT was applied to the intervention group. EFT application was continued for three rounds and approximately 25-30 minutes. As a result of the study, it was found that EFT was useful in clinical practice in the preoperative period and reduced surgical anxiety and surgical fear. In a quasi-experimental study involving 108 people in which the effects of EFT and music on anxiety and vital signs were examined before lumbar disc herniation surgery, it was found that both music and EFT reduced anxiety and regulated vital signs before surgery, and EFT was more effective than music in regulating anxiety and respiratory rate. In previous studies, pain, pain belief and anxiety in surgical patients have not been examined together. It is thought that the study will have a positive effect on the patient outcomes (anxiety, pain, pain belief) of patients undergoing CABG, thus increasing the holistic approach in the care of patients and having a positive effect on the quality of life of individuals.

A Chinese Multicenter Study on Surgical Techniques and Outcomes Across the Lifespan in Congenital Heart Disease

The goal of this observational study is to learn about recovery after heart surgery for people with Complex Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD), build a comprehensive data platform for CCHD care across a person's whole life, and create a China-specific quality control system to improve CCHD surgical care. The main questions it aims to answer are: What are the main risk factors that affect how well people with CCHD recover after heart surgery? Can a whole life course, multi-dimensional data platform for CCHD care be built to support better clinical quality control? Can a China-specific system to evaluate and control the quality of CCHD heart surgery be developed to guide national health policies and improve patient outcomes? Participants in this study are people with CCHD who have had or will have heart surgery at participating medical centers. This includes two groups: A retrospective group: People who already had CCHD heart surgery and were included in the existing National Congenital Heart Disease Surgery Database. A prospective group: People who are scheduled to have CCHD heart surgery as part of related sub-studies of this project. People who are lost to follow-up or have more than 30% missing data will not be included. Participants will: For the retrospective group: Have their past medical records (from surgery and follow-up) analyzed by researchers to find risk factors linked to recovery after CCHD heart surgery. For the prospective group: Have their pre-surgery tests, surgery details, care during and after surgery, and follow-up data (including up to 1 year after surgery) collected as part of their regular medical care. Researchers will combine data from both groups into a new registry, work with a third-party committee to check data quality, and use this combined data to build a quality control and evaluation system for CCHD heart surgery. This system will help show the current state of CCHD care in China and guide national health decisions.

AI-Generated Video Feedback to Improve Technical Skills in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

This study aims to evaluate whether targeted video feedback generated by an artificial intelligence (AI)-based surgical performance assessment model can support improvement in technical skills among cardiac surgeons performing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This is a single-group, self-controlled, pre-post interventional study. Participating surgeons will submit a baseline CABG surgical video, which will be assessed by both an AI model and blinded human expert raters using standardized scoring criteria. Based on the AI assessment, surgeons will receive personalized video feedback highlighting operative steps associated with lower technical performance. After a one-month self-directed review period, a follow-up CABG surgical video will be submitted and evaluated using the same process. Changes in human-rated technical skill scores between baseline and follow-up will be used to assess the potential educational impact of AI-generated video feedback.