INTRODUCTION Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide despite the latest therapeutic advances designed to decrease myocardial injury. Preclinical and emerging clinical evidence show that the intracoronary injection of autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMCs) following AMI leads to improvement in left ventricular ejection function (LVEF)...

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is looking for your opinion on sharing clinical trial data. The IOM has convened an ad hoc committee to conduct a consensus study to develop recommendations for sharing clinical trial data. This committee, chaired by Bernard Lo, executive director of the Greenwall Foundation, came together in October 2013 and will deliver a final report by December 2014. As an ea...

BACKGROUND As increasing numbers of clinical trials are being conducted worldwide, there has been concern about the relationship between the sponsors and investigators. Both parties need benchmarks or recommendations to act as a reference point when trials are initiated and conducted. These recommendations are designed to fulfill this role. SUMMARY OF COMMENT A series of meetings of the Inter...

The Scandinavian Starch for Severe Sepsis / Septic Shock (6S) trial showed that hydroxyethyl starch was harmful compared to Ringer's acetate in patients with severe sepsis when used according to clinical practice and in alignment with the recommendations by the manufactures and authorities. The different interpretation by Chapell and Jacob's rely on misreading of the trial publication and is no...

INTRODUCTION International clinical guidelines consistently endorse the promotion of self-management (SM), including physical activity for patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and osteoarthritis (OA). Patients frequently receive individual treatment and advice to self-manage from physiotherapists in primary care, but the successful implementation of a clinical and cost-effective group SM ...

Ia Systematic review withmeta-analysis of randomized controlled studies Ib At least one randomized controlled trial IIa At least one well-designed controlled study without randomization IIb At least one other type of well-designed quasi-experimental study III Well-designed non-experimental descriptive study, e.g. comparative, correlation and case studies IV Expert committee reports or opinions ...

Public confidence in clinical trials has been eroded by data suppression, misrepresentation and manipulation. Although various attempts have been made to achieve universal trial registration- e.g., Declaration of Helsinki, WHO clinical Trial Registry Platform (WHO ICTRP), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors requirement- they have not succeeded, probably because they lack the ...