Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

Ischemic stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Endovascular intervention with mechanical thrombectomy has become the standard of care for acute large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke since multiple clinical trials demonstrated improved long-term clinical outcomes with treatment. However, despite high rates of successful vessel recanalization and thus reperfusion of ischemic brain tissue in current practice, many patients continue to suffer debilitating strokes and poor long-term functional outcome. Pharmacologic neuroprotection could potentially present a means of addressing this mismatch in radiologic vs. clinical outcomes by protecting and salvaging damaged brain tissue. Intra-arterial delivery of a cocktail of neuroprotective therapy at the time of endovascular reperfusion would provide immediate, targeted therapy directly to the damaged brain territory. Hypothermia, minocycline and magnesium can target multiple facets of the complex ischemic injury cascade, and have each demonstrated neuroprotection in multiple preclinical models. This is a phase I trial that aims to demonstrate safety and feasibility of administering cold saline, minocycline, and magnesium sulfate intra-arterially immediately after thrombectomy in stroke interventions.

Adults with stroke-related disability spend more time sedentary than adults without stroke-related disability, which places them at risk for poor cardiovascular health outcomes. Few interventions are designed to reduce post-stroke sedentary time. The purpose of this research is to test whether the teleABLE (Activating Behavior for Lasting Engagement) Intervention is feasible and acceptable to adults within the first 12 months post-stroke. The hypothesis is that teleABLE can be feasibly delivered using videoconferencing within the first 12 months post-stroke. 10 participants will complete assessments and activity monitoring (activPAL micro3) at 0 (baseline) and 8 (post-intervention)-weeks. Participants will complete 12 sessions of the teleABLE intervention. Findings from this study will be used to guide the intervention protocol in the planned next phase of this research.

Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has shown its effectiveness for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) related to large vessel occlusion and rapidly became a cornerstone in the management of these patients. No strong evidence is available on the benefit of MT in AIS related to more distal occlusions. Some previous observational studies suggested a possible benefit but most of them were single-centre and retrospective studies providing a very low level of evidence. To date, no randomized controlled trial has been conducted in this indication, which represents 10% to 20% of all AIS involving intracranial vessel occlusions. This research is a multicenter open randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups : best medical treatment alone VS mechanical trombectomy + best medical treatment.

Approximately 15,000 Veterans are hospitalized for stroke each year with new cases costing an estimated $111 million for acute inpatient, $75 million for post-acute inpatient, and $88 million for follow-up care over 6 months post-stroke. The investigators have previously established the effectiveness of a backward walking training program to improve gait and balance in post-stroke Veterans. To best serve Veterans in this era of personalized medicine, there is a current need to determine the appropriate training dose as well as which post-stroke Veterans would most benefit. This study addresses both needs as it will 1) test responses to two different doses (18 vs. 27 sessions) of backward walking training and 2) assess brain activity, measured by magnetic resonance imaging, before and after training intervention to determine its ability to predict rehabilitation response as well as brain mechanisms of behavioral change.

Stroke is the third leading cause of disability worldwide. Women present a higher incidence of this pathology and prevalence of its risk factors. Similarly, after stroke, women have a poorer functional outcome, higher rates of institutionalization and greater dependence on activities of daily living. People who have suffered a stroke are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, with an estimated one-third of stroke survivors suffering a new event in the following 5 years. Current scientific literature recommends the promotion of physical activity (PA) and exercise for the prevention of stroke and its sequelae. However, stroke survivors are often insufficiently active. Therefore, changing their behavior with respect to PA and sedentary lifestyle is fundamental. Moreover, gender perspective, should also taken into account. Thus, our aims are to study whether there are differences in women with chronic stroke sequelae compared to men in: 1) the amount of sitting time and its context, as well as the time spent in different intensities of PA; 2) the reduction of sitting time and its effect on health after the completion of the PA self-management program and sedentary lifestyle developed in this project; 3) the presence of sarcopenia, osteoporosis and the state of frailty. To achieve these objectives, the lifestyle habits of 128 subjects (64 women) who live in the community and have chronic sequelae of stroke (≥ 6 months) will be evaluated. In addition, possible differences in the study variables will be verified with control people without sequelae of stroke. Moreover, in order to reduce the risks of stroke survivors, a program of self-management of PA and sedentary lifestyle will be developed. This program will be carried out through several sessions spread over six months that will incorporate: education, goal setting, identification of barriers, self-control and feedback. The feasibility of this intervention will be determined by examining compliance, duration, utility, and safety. At least 64 of the previously studied subjects will participate in this program, analyzing whether it favors the reduction of sitting time and its effect on health thanks to the measurement of different physical capacities. The differences between men and women in response to the program will be determined. Finally, we will explore whether the effect of the program is greater when it is implemented in the subacute than in the chronic phase.

The objective of this study is to determine if combining vibration with hand task practice is superior to hand task practice alone.

Participants are being asked to participate in a research study conducted by Shih-Chiao Tseng, PT, Ph.D. at Texas Woman's University. This research study is to determine whether low-intensive brain stimulation can enhance learning of a leg movement task. The investigators also want to know if brain stimulation can improve the nerve function and walking performance. Our goal is to understand any relationship between brain stimulation and overall movement control improvement. Participants have been invited to join this research if they have had a stroke before or they are healthy adults aged 21 years or older. Research evidence shows stroke can induce permanent brain damage and therefore may cause a person to have trouble learning a new task. This in turn may significantly impact the recovery of motor function in stroke survivors. In addition, the investigators also want to know how a healthy person learns this new leg task and see if her/his learning pattern differs from a stroke survivor. This study comprises two phases: Phase I study investigates short-term effects of brain stimulation on leg skill learning and only requires two visits to TWU. The total time commitment for Phase I study will be about 6.5 hours, 3.5 hours on the first visit and three hours on the second visit; Phase II study is an expanded version of Phase I study to investigate long-term effects of brain stimulation on leg skill learning and requires to complete 12 visits of exercise training paired with brain stimulation over a four-week period and additional one visit for follow-up test. The total time commitment for Phase II study will be about 20 hours, a total of 18 hours for 12 exercise training sessions and two hours for a follow-up test. The investigators hypothesize that people with chronic stroke will show a slower rate of acquiring this leg skill as compared to healthy adults. The investigators also hypothesize that co-applying brain stimulation with 12 sessions of exercise training will enhance skill learning of this leg task for people with chronic stroke and this 12-session exercise program may exert beneficial influences on the nerve function and leg muscle activation, and consequentially improve motor control for walking.

Intracranial atherosclerotic disease is the most common cause of ischemic stroke that is directly attributed to the progression or rupture of intracranial high-risk plaque in Asia. Many studies mainly from Euro-American population with a focus on extracranial carotid plaque have fully demonstrated the advantages of intensive statin therapy on stabilizing or reversing plaque burden, reversing plaque composition presenting that lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) is gradually replaced by fibrous tissue, and even reversing pattern of arterial remodeling to reduce the occurrence of cerebrovascular events. Yet, direct evidence of the effect of intensive statin therapy on intracranial atherosclerotic plaques is lacking and the effect of statin intensity and duration on intracranial plaque burden and composition is still unclear. High resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) is a new and non-invasive technique that enable to assess the morphologic characteristics of vascular wall and plaque composition of intracranial artery. Based on above discussion, the investigators conduct this study to further determine the effect of intensive statin in ischemic stroke with intracranial atherosclerotic plaques.

This study explores the use of CRP level reduction in patients after suffering from acute ischemic stroke. Using selective CRP-apheresis, the investigators aim to reduce the secondary inflammatory tissue damage in the course of infarction maturation using infarction growth in MRI as the primary outcome as a surrogate.

Stroke affects upwards of 800,000 Americans every year and has an enormous impact on the well-being of the American Veteran population with 6,000 new stroke admissions every year. Many of these stroke survivors are living with walking disabilities. Gait problems result in inability to function independently, high risk of falls and poor quality of life. Unfortunately, current gait rehabilitation treatments are limited and many stroke survivors do not achieve full recovery. Therefore, it is critical to develop new approaches to enhance gait rehabilitation methods. The investigators propose to evaluate a brain stimulation treatment called transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) that can be added to physical therapy. tDCS has been applied for arm rehabilitation after stroke with positive results, but gait-related investigations are lacking. The investigators will test whether simultaneous tDCS and gait training produces greater improvement in walking abilities than gait training alone. Adjunct tDCS therapy may improve outcomes, and reduce cost of both rehabilitation and post-stroke care.