Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries"

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a condition affecting the persons' central nervous system with a need for extensive and highly specialized initial health care provision followed by comprehensive rehabilitation efforts. Frequent and life-long medical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral changes are expected. The community-based services are largely responsible for dealing with the chronic challenges affecting people with TBI. 120 patients >16 years at the time of injury and between 18 and 72 years at inclusion, with clinical TBI diagnosis on acute admission and verified injury-related intracranial abnormalities reporting cognitive, emotional and physical problems more than 2 years after the injury will be included and randomized to a patient-centered in-home program intervention and treatment as usual. The intervention consists of an individualized and goal-oriented intervention will be provided in the persons' home environment, in close collaboration with family members and local health care providers when available. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, at the end of the intervention 4 months after inclusion and one year after inclusion. Primary outcome is participation (Part-O) and TBI specific health related quality of life (Qolibri). Secondary outcomes include goal attainment within individualized targeted outcome areas, depression and anxiety, symptom burden, unmet health care needs and acceptability of intervention as assessed by patient, family member and health professional. The project will contribute to increased understanding of knowledge transfer processes, and dissemination of evidence based practice for TBI. Thus, the project has the potential to improve the current health care for patients with TBI and its delivery.

This non-randomized clinical study will compare pressure injuries and the change in pressure injuries for subjects who are placed on the Freedom Bed compared to those placed on a standard Group II Low Air Loss/Alternating Pressure Mattress in the Ventilator Unit at Northeast Center for Rehabilitation and Brain Injury. Additionally, the incidence of pneumonia, urinary tract infections, circulatory performance, sleep deprivation and caregiver self-perception on performance will be monitored and documented.

Background: Sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, are common after traumatic brain injury and affect recovery and negatively influence participation in rehabilitation. Sleep apnea is a breathing problem while persons sleep and causes further brain damage and problems with thinking, daily functioning, and overall health. Earlier diagnosis and treatment is important for traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors to maximize the recovery process. There is little information that guides TBI doctors on how to identify sleep apnea during inpatient TBI rehabilitation, a phase in which people experience the potential for a rapid pace of improvement. The Agency for Healthcare Research has highlighted gaps in best methods for identifying sleep apnea and separately in helping consumers with TBI rehabilitation choices. Partnering with survivors, caregivers, and administrators, investigators developed this study to compare sleep apnea screening and diagnostic tools in TBI rehabilitation settings. This information will provide clinicians, providers, and patients with the best information for early identification of sleep apnea to remove negative influence on the pace of recovery in early phases after TBI. The Goal: Investigators will compare existing screening (Aim 1) and diagnostic tools (Aim 2) in TBI patients undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. For the second aim, investigators will determine if a more accessible diagnostic test is sufficient to diagnose sleep apnea compared to the traditional method used which is less accessible to consumers. If the more accessible test is good enough, this will increase recognition of this problem and increase patient access to earlier sleep apnea treatment. Stakeholders and Products. TBI survivors, caregivers, researchers, and policymakers working together on this study helped develop the study questions. Idea exchanges included ways to reach clinicians and TBI survivors/caregivers via existing educational programming and online tools for consumers such as fact sheets and patient/caregiver-focused videos. Other traditional methods will include targeting professional magazines, conferences, and research journals that reach professionals working with TBI survivors and their families at the time of admission to rehabilitation and during the recovery process. This study will occur at rehabilitation hospitals around the country who enroll TBI survivors into a lifetime study called the TBI Model System funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and Veterans Affairs (VA).

This is a randomized controlled trial designed to test an intervention (Remote ischemic preconditioning) in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA).Remote ischemic preconditioning(RIPC) with transient upper limb ischemia/reperfusion is a novel, simple, cost-free,non-pharmacological and non-invasive strategy.The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of Remote Ischaemic Preconditioning on perioperative ischaemic injury in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy compared to control intervention.The outcomes of interest include neurocognitive function,clinical outcomes,and biomarkers of brain injury.

The PreTBI III study aims to investigate the prognostic potential of prehospital and repeated in-hospital S100B, NSE and GFAP measurements as predictors of neurological outcome in patients suffering severe TBI. Knowledge on prehospital S100B, GFAP and NSE levels as predictors of neurological outcome and mortality may underline the potential of a point-of-care analysis. Possibly, the early biomarker levels may contributed to accurate monitoring of biomarker dynamics and hereby support neurosurgeons and anaesthetists in the clinical decision-making regarding treatment and level of care offered to the patient. Hypotheses: Prehospital S100B level is a significant predictor of unfavourable neurological outcome (dichotomized disability rating scale (DRS) and glasgow outcome scale extended (GOS-E) measures) in severe TBI patients. Prehospital GFAP level is a significant predictor of unfavourable neurological outcome (dichotomized DRS and GOSE measures) in severe TBI patients. Prehospital NSE level is a significant predictor of unfavourable neurological outcome (dichotomized DRS and GOSE measures) in severe TBI patients. combined panel of prehospital S100B, GFAP and NSE levels is a significant predictor of unfavourable neurological outcome (dichotomized DRS and GOSE measures) in severe TBI patients. Unfavourable neurological outcome (dichotomized DRS and GOSE measures) in severe TBI patients can be predicted by dynamics in repeated measurements of S100B, GFAP and NSE.

Fibrinogen is a unique precursor of fibrin and cannot be compensated for by other coagulation factors. If plasma fibrinogen concentrations are insufficient, hemostatic clots cannot be formed with the appropriate firmness. In severe traumatic brain injury(TBI) patients, plasma fibrinogen concentrations decrease earlier and more frequently than other coagulation factors,predicting massive bleeding and death. The purpose of this study is to try early injection of fibrinogen concentrate in severe isolated traumatic brain injury and investigation the effect of it on post bleeding and complications.

A novel and promising therapy for cognitive dysfunction is non-invasive brain stimulation, of which transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a form. TMS is currently FDA-approved for use in depression and migraine. It is under investigation for use in a number of other neurologic and psychiatric disorders. In addition to its potential to improve affective symptoms, recent research has suggested that TMS targeted to select cortical regions can also improve cognition. In trials of TMS therapy for psychiatric disorders, several studies have shown benefits for cognitive function alongside symptom amelioration. In healthy persons, a course of stimulation of the parietal area improved objective measures of learning and memory. Among persons with TBI, there have been case reports supporting improvement in cognitive function and postconcussive symptoms; however, there have not yet been any controlled studies of TMS for TBI-related cognitive dysfunction.

In the current study the investigators intend to evaluate the role of Ischemia modified albumin (IMA) in the prediction of poor outcome in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The investigators hypothesize that IMA will be elevated in patients with traumatic brain injury due to the excessive production of reactive oxygen species by the injured brain.

This is the proof of concept study with multi-modality approach (using intra-thecal bioactive peptides, stem cells, laser and transcranial IV laser and Median Nerve stimulation as adjuvants) in cases of brain death due to traumatic brain injury having diffuse axonal injury to document possibility of reversal of brain death (BD).

Mild TBI subjects will initially be identified by providers in the Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) TBI Clinic. The subjects will then undergo objective testing by the developmental optometrist to confirm if they do or do not have vision dysfunction related to the mTBI. At the Center of Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) located at the University of Minnesota (U of M), the whole brain will be imaged using resting state and task functional MRI and diffuse tensor imaging (DTI) using a high field 3 Tesla (T) MRI. The subjects will then receive neurovision rehabilitation if they are in the vision dysfunction group. This treatment is standard care. Both groups will then undergo repeat objective vision testing by the developmental optometrist at 3 and 6 months to confirm that vision dysfunction has resolved. Resting state and task fMRI and DTI will be done at the same time to compare functional and structural connectivity changes between the 2 groups.