Active clinical trials for "Cerebral Palsy"

Every year about 1 out of every 1,600-5,000 infants has a stroke around the time of birth. Many of these children will have lifelong physical problems. For example, the arm muscles are often paralyzed. This makes every day activities, like reaching and grasping objects, very difficult. To date there are few effective treatments for the paralyzed arm of young children with stroke. The main objective of this study is to test whether a new kind of treatment, known as functional electrical stimulation (FES), is able to improve arm function in children with stroke. FES involves applying electrical currents to weak or paralyzed muscles. This enables movements, such as reaching and grasping, which can then be practiced. The investigators will compare the effectiveness of FES treatment to standard arm rehabilitation in children aged 3-6 years who had a stroke early in life. They will measure the effectiveness using a number of clinical measures of arm function. Other objectives of this project are to test how well children adhere to the treatment schedule, and to evaluate parent and child satisfaction with FES treatment.

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of 2 community intervention approaches to maintain community mobility and walking speed in adults with cerebral palsy who have previously completed an 8 week course of physical therapy.

Cerebral Palsy (CP), due to pre-perinatal brain lesions, is a main cause of childhood disabilities with high cost for individuals and society. Early Intervention (EI), if intensive enough but affordable by patients, family and health services can improve its outcome. A recent Cochrane review indicates the positive effects of Infant Massage (IM) in gross and fine motor skills, visual development and parent infants interaction in preterm infants. Recently, a new technological tool, called CareToy has been developed as a tele-rehabilitation tool for delivering at home EI. The effects of CT training on neurodevelopmental outcome have been recently tested in a sample of low-risk preterm infants with very promising results. The aim of the project is to provide evidence, by a RCT, of the efficacy of CareToy (CT) training versus Infant Massage, in a sample of 45 infants aged 3-12 months (or with motor competencies from initial head control to unstable sitting position) at high risk for CP according to strict clinical and neuroradiological signs. Enrolled infants will be randomized in 2 groups: CareToy and Infant Massage. Infants allocated in CT group will perform a training with CT while the others will perform infant massage. Both trainings will be carried out at home by parents with the monitoring of the therapists. Both interventions will last 8 weeks. All enrolled infants will be evaluated at baseline (T0),9 wks after the CT/IM (T1), 9 wks after T1 (T2) and at 18 months of post term age (T3). Infant Motor Profile will be the primary outcome measure.

This study examines the effect of combining modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT) and self-regulation (SR) in promoting upper limb function of children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) studying in a school-based setting.

This study examined the effect of Functional Chewing Training(FuCT) on tongue thrust and drooling in children with cerebral palsy.

This study is a single site, phase I, prospective study of the safety of intravenous sibling cord blood infusion in 15 children ages 1-6 years with Cerebral Palsy (CP). All subjects will be treated with sibling cord blood cells. The first six will receive cord blood cells from an HLA-matched sibling. The following nine subjects will receive cord blood cells from an HLA-mismatched (≥3/6 match) or matched sibling. The duration of study participation will be six months from the time of the cord blood infusion.

This randomized controlled study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of allogeneic umbilical cord blood therapy combined with erythropoietin for children with cerebral palsy.

The purpose of this study is to observe the behavior of kinematic variables in children with spastic hemiparetic cerebral palsy (SHCP), immediately after treadmill gait training with ankle loading. The children underwent a single treadmill training session with ankle loading. The kinematic parameters were assessed in three phases: before training (PRE); immediately after training (POST); and 5 minutes after the end of training (FOLLOW UP). The investigators hypothesized that the treadmill gait training with additional lower limb loading would be a disturbance capable of modifying the locomotor strategy of children with SHCP, by the increase in kinematic parameters in the swing phase of gait.

The investigators have assembled an integrated knowledge/technology/client team to develop a novel motion capture-based home therapy program for children with hemiparesis (cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury (ABI)) and older persons post-stroke. The investigators society needs new approaches to improve the quality of life for millions of Canadians. The method proposaed here is to combine low-cost motion capture devices, a bimanual training program, social media frameworks such as Facebook Games, and on-line performance sharing between therapy clients and with their therapists. The investigators believe that together these approaches will yield interventions for people with stroke and children with hemiplegia that significantly improve their motivation to continue their exercise programs and thus improve their functional ability which will lead to improved quality of life.

A randomized control trial investigating "Biomechanical Correction of the Spine according to Kozyavkin" (BCSK) which is a part of the treatment concept "Intensive Neurophysiological Rehabilitation System" (INRS). BCSK is used with the aims to reduce muscle tone and improve gross and fine motor function in children with Spastic Bilateral Cerebral Palsy.