Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries"

Growth Hormone (GH) deficiency, defined by insufficient GH response to a variety of stimulating compounds, is found in 20-35% of adults who suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBI) requiring inpatient rehabilitation1. However, there is no accepted gold standard for diagnosing GH deficiency in this population. Further, the major effector molecule of the somatotropic axis, Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) has recently been recognized as an important neurotrophic agent. Since most repair and regeneration after TBI occurs within the first few months after injury, absolute or relative deficiencies of GH and IGF-1 in the subacute period after TBI are potentially important factors why some patients fail to make a good functional recovery. The proposed study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of rhGH, starting at 1 month post TBI, continuing for 6 months. This study has one primary hypothesis, that treatment with recombinant human Growth Hormone (rhGH) in the subacute period after TBI results in improved functional outcome 6 months after injury. As secondary hypotheses, we will investigate what is the optimal method to diagnose GH deficiency in TBI survivors and study the relationship between GH deficiency and insufficiency and functional recovery.

In this study, children who survive cardiac arrest will be evaluated whether 24 or 72 hours of whole body hypothermia (cooling) during recovery is better to help prevent brain injury and improve outcome. The investigators will also test the safety of cooling patients for 24 and 72 hours. The investigators hypothesize that 72 hours of cooling will be more beneficial than 24 hours without compromising safety.

The purpose of this study is to see if the treatment of severely brain injured patients with darbepoetin (a long acting form of erythropoietin) will be safe, and will reduce brain damage by decreasing harmful levels of chemicals in the brain.

The purpose of this study is to determine if carbamazepine reduces irritability and aggression among individuals with traumatic brain injury

Motor imagery is a technique widely used in learning skills. Its effectiveness has been proven in various sports and in musicians. A recent review (Braun et al. 2006) suggested that this technique may also be effective in rehabilitation of patients with neurological disease or damage, but that further research was needed. The main purpose of this research is to discover whether motor imagery practice is beneficial in the rehabilitation of skills in patients who have some disability due to neurological disease or damage. The principal research question is: are physiotherapy and occupational therapy given incorporating motor imagery more effective than standard care (i.e., the same therapies but without integrated motor imagery) in re-training task specific performance for patients with neurological disease or damage?

To show that the use of intravenous levetiracetam(LEV;Keppra)for seizure prevention in patients in the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit will result in fewer side effects compared to the current standard of care anticonvulsant and will be at least as effective as the current standard of care in preventing clinical and sub-clinical seizure activity.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term safety of AVP-923 in the treatment of Involuntary Emotional Expression Disorder (IEED) also known as Pseudobulbar Affect (episodes of uncontrolled crying and/or laughter).

The purpose of this study is to examine whether simple home-base aerobic exercise program have beneficial effect on walking abilities and balance performance in children with brain damage

Donated red blood cells vary in how old they are, that is, how long they have been stored since being collected from donors. Blood that has been donated is stored for a maximum of 42 days, after this time it is expired. That means that red blood cells that are given to patients as a blood transfusion can be anywhere from a few days old to 42 days old. The average age of blood that is given as a blood transfusion in this hospital is 21 days old. As stored blood gets older its ability to carry oxygen may be reduced. Whether or not this is important in patients with a brain injury is not currently known. The purpose of this study is to try and determine if fresh blood (less than 5 days old) is better than old blood (greater than 20 days old) in improving the supply of oxygen in patients who have suffered an injury to their brain.

The purpose of this study is to discover the feasibility of conducting clinical research in individuals with chronic sequelae following brain injury who are given hyperbaric oxygen. This study will also look at the outcome of individuals with a chronic stable brain injury due to trauma, anoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain), or stroke, who are given hyperbaric oxygen. Outcome measures testing cognitive (memory, etc.) and functional (balance, strength, etc.) measures will be performed before the hyperbaric sessions, immediately following them, and 6 months later. The subject will receive 60 hyperbaric sessions, 60 minutes in the chamber, to a pressure of 1.5 ATA, once daily, Monday through Friday.