Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries"

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a neurologic disorder cuased by physical trauma to the brain. Neuroendocrine abnormalities in these patients have been reported, including central hypogonadism within hours of the insult and eventual recovery of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis with recovery of cognitive function to baseline. This pilot study will measure hormonal level of neuroendocine function at the time of TBI and various time points during recovery.

The primary purpose of this study is to validate the High Definition Fiber Tracking (HDFT/HDFTAS) technology, so that faster, more reliable diagnosis can be implemented in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This study will involve Traumatic Brain Injury Patients and normal controls, in addition to 30 pilot participants who will be undergoing MRI in order to develop a statistically sound range for the metrics derived from HDFT.

The investigators will longitudinally measure cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in acute (≤3 days from injury), subacute, and chronic phases after TBI as a biomarker of TCVI as compared to healthy controls. CVR will be measured by fNIRS response to hypercapnia. The investigators hypothesize that CVR will be decreased after TBI and that these decreases will correlate with clinical outcomes. Furthermore, the investigators predict that administration of a vasodilatory medication (sildenafil) will augment CVR after TBI.

Study will test the use of a short virtual reality driven goggle test as a means of detecting mTBI in a diverse group of athletes

Context: A major lack of organ donors is a serious public health problem. It determines a prolonged delay before a transplant can be performed and thus a significant number of deaths of patients waiting for transplantation. The aim of this project is to reduce the delay of the diagnosis of brain death, and also to improve its diagnosis in the Intensive Care Unit. The diagnosis of brain death is strictly defined by the law and relies either on two consecutive flat electroencephalograms recorded at an interval of four hours, or on the lack of cerebral circulation during a brain angiography performed after suspecting brain death on the clinical exam. However, in usual practice, it is difficult to have all the needed clinical arguments, and their interpretation can be difficult in the pathological context. This may participate in the delay and the lack of patients potentially donors. Pre-study: In a pilot study, fifty subjects with severe cerebral lesions, had a continuous ECG recording. The investigators could find that a decrease in autonomic nervous system activity, as measured through the ECG, was correlated to the transition to brain death assessed by cerebral angiography. The loss of cardiac variability was always observed between two cerebral angiographies, one before and the second after brain death. This study allowed the investigators to calculate the threshold values of sympathetic and parasympathetic activities to confirm brain death.

A longitudinal study evaluating the predictive ability of near infrared spectroscopy to predict brain injury in infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy. Data will be analyzed at two different time periods, at discharge and again at 2 years of age.

Investigate myelin alterations in high school football players with mTBI

Investigate myelin alterations in patients with neurosurgical diseases

This exploratory study aims to identify the most promising biomarkers that alone or in combination might predict development of mood disorders [i.e., major depression (MD], cognitive disorders [i.e., executive function deficits (EFD)], and functional impairment following repetitive/mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI).

The investigators will conduct an observational crossover study. The investigators aim to recruit 50 participants with severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) requiring intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring during their stay at the Neuro Trauma ICU at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Overall, participants will be monitored, on average, for approximately 6-8 hours during the study period. The investigators do not anticipate the need for prolonged monitoring during the duration of their hospital stay or post hospital period.