Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries"

This is an intervention study with patients after a non-progressive brain injury who suffer from depression. It will determine whether an integration of neuropsychological and psychotherapeutic techniques and an additional caregivers support program offers benefits to those in the process of coping with the effects of a stroke. The investigators expect the integrative neuro-psychotherapy to be more effective in the treatment of emotional distress reactions following a stroke than the structured solution focused treatment.

Will an increase of the dose of mannitol improve the effects on neuromonitoring in patients suffering intracranial hypertension following traumatic brain injury?

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of a single administration of Oxycyte in patients with severe non-penetrating traumatic brain injury (TBI). In the first dose level (Cohort 1), 11 patients were randomized 2:1 to receive either 1.0 mL/kg Oxycyte (0.6 g/kg; n=8) or NS (n=3). A total of 8 patients received Oxycyte. The Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) reviewed the safety data for patients in Cohort 1 through Day 14, and approved escalation to the next dose. In Cohort 2, 18 patients will be randomized 2:1 to receive either 2.0 mL/kg Oxycyte (1.2 g/kg; n=12) or NS (n=6). The DSMB will then review the safety data for all patients in Cohort 2 through Day 14 and either approve escalation to the highest dose or remain at the current dose. If remaining at the current dose level (Cohort 2) an additional 50 patients will be randomized 1:1 to Oxycyte (n=25) or NS (n=25) and treated. If escalation occurs to Cohort 3, 18 patients would be randomized 2:1 to Oxycyte (n=12) or NS (n=6) to receive the 3.0 mL/kg dose. The DSMB would again review the safety data and decide whether to treat an additional 50 patients at this dose or to decrease the dose back to 2.0 mL/kg. This group would be randomized 1:1 to receive Oxycyte (n=25) or NS.

Objective: to assess the effectiveness of pentobarbital and thiopental to control raised intracranial pressure (ICP), refractory to first level measures, in patients with severe traumatic brain injury. Material and methods: prospective, randomized open study to compare the effectiveness between two treatments: pentobarbital and thiopental. The patients will be selected from those admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with a severe traumatic brain injury (postresuscitation Glasgow Coma Scale equal or less than 8 points) and raised ICP (ICP>20 mmHg) refractory to first level measures according to the Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines. The adverse effects of both treatments were also collected.

The primary hypothesis for this application for a multicenter phase III randomized clinical trial (RCT) is that induced moderate hypothermia (HYPO) (32-33 °C) after severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children and maintained for 48 hours will improve mortality at 3 months and 12 month functional outcome as assessed by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS).

The purpose of this study is to determine whether memantine (Namenda) improves memory and attention in patients with mild to moderate traumatic brain injury.

This study aims to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of fMRI-targeted repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of depressive symptoms in service members with a history of concussive traumatic brain injury (TBI). Up to ninety participants will be randomized to active or sham treatment. Participants randomized into the active group will receive 20 sessions of left-sided dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLFPC) high-frequency rTMS, followed by right-sided DLFPC low-frequency rTMS. The DLPFC treatment area will be identified by using individual subject-level resting state network estimation (Hacker et al., 2013). Participants randomized into the sham treatment group will receive 20 sham treatments designed to have similar sound and tactile sensation, without producing active treatment. Participants will also be asked to complete regular follow-up evaluations for up to a total of six follow-up sessions. Those who do not respond to the treatment will have the option to receive active treatment through this study regardless of group assignment to active or sham.

The current study will evaluate the feasibility of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with an existing intensive physiotherapy program for children with ABI within the in/day-patient brain injury program at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Canada. This feasibility randomized control trial will allocate 30 participants with ABI (age 5 to 18 years) to one of two treatment groups. One group will receive active tDCS prior to four of their existing physiotherapy sessions each week for a total of 16 sessions while the other group will receive sham/placebo tDCS prior to their physiotherapy sessions. Recovery of gross motor function will be compared between groups after the four weeks of tDCS treatment and again after three months to evaluate the short and longer-term impact of tDCS on an existing intensive physiotherapy program. Feasibility will be evaluated by tracking process, resource, and treatment indicators such as eligibility, enrollment, adherence, and tolerance rates.

Deficits in memory, attention, cognitive, and executive functions are the most common disabilities after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Dopamine (DA) neurotransmission is implicated in these neural functions and dopaminergic pathways are recognized to be frequently disrupted after TBI. One of the most widely used DAergic drugs is methylphenidate (Ritalin®). Methylphenidate increases synaptic DA levels by binding to presynaptic dopamine transporters (DAT) and blocking re-uptake. PET with methylphenidate challenge to measure tonic DA release provides valuable insight into the molecular basis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and addiction, as well as practical information regarding likely effectiveness of therapy (1). The objectives of this study are to use PET imaging with [11C]-raclopride, a D2/D3 receptor ligand, before and after administering methylphenidate, to measure endogenous DA release in patients who are experiencing problems with cognition, attention and executive function in the chronic stage after TBI. In addition, we will use TMS to test short intracortical inhibition, a gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor A (GABAA) - mediated phenomenon, which is under partial DA control, as a measure of dopaminergic activity on and off methylphenidate.

The overall goal of the proposed project is to perform a preliminary study to assess the potential effects of galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) on the outcomes of a cognitive test of attention and the outcomes of robot-assisted upper-limb rehabilitation.