Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

The purpose of the first part of this study is to understand plastic brain mechanisms associated with successful gait-oriented stroke rehabilitation. Patients are randomized to receive intensive in-patient multiprofessional rehabilitation at different time points. One group will receive rehabilitation immediately after an acute care at the neurological clinic (8 days) and one group 5 weeks after the insult. Patients practise walking every workday for 60 min (actual 30min) either on a treadmill or on a gait trainer for four weeks, and receive also other physiotherapy. In addition to selected parameters measuring brain plasticity, detailed assessments of functional abilities including motor ability and quality of life will be performed. A novel tool, MR-image navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is utilized in assessing cortical excitability in relation to stroke, time, rehabilitation, and recovery.

Palliative care is believed to improve care of patients with life-limiting illnesses. This study evaluated the impact of a multi-center randomized trial of a palliative care team intervention on the quality and cost of care of hospitalized patients. Study subjects were randomized to intervention or usual care. At study end, patients receiving the palliative care intervention reported greater patient satisfaction with their care. Intervention patients also had significantly fewer ICU admissions and lower total costs for care 6 months past their hospitalization. Intervention patients completed more advance directives and had longer hospice stays.

Carotid ultrasound can reveal the intima-media complex thickness(IMT), that has been reported to be a marker of atherosclerosis as well as a risk of cardiovascular events, and to be attenuated by 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) . This substudy of J-STARS will observe the temporal profile of carotid IMT prospectively in the patients with prescription of pravastatin and the control.

The study investigates the possibility that levetiracetam may improve the symptoms of chronic post-stroke aphasia.

Cross-sectional regional multicenter hospital study of all neurological events (stroke, AIT and mimics) for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Cost of illness study.

This pilot study evaluates the use of a mobile application to improve weight loss in obese stroke patients. The investigators hypothesize that acute stroke patients who use the mobile application are more likely to achieve a minimum 5% weight reduction during the critical six months post-stroke, yielding considerable improvement in stroke risk factors.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has supported CUHK to launch a three-year project 'CUHK Jockey Club HOPE4Care Programme' to implement four evidence-based advanced rehabilitation technologies in 40 local elderly day care centres and rehabilitation centres, to benefit the community. The Exoskeleton Ankle Robot is a robot-assisted Ankle-Foot-Orthosis to facilitate gait training of person after stroke with drop foot.

The purpose of this study is to assess whether a brief cognitive behavioural intervention for post-stroke fatigue leads to clinically relevant improvements in fatigue after 6 months.

Among patients admitted with cerebral ischemia (stroke and transitory ischemic attack (TIA)) it is important to reveal the underlying cause of the disease. In special it is important to reveal if carotid artery stenosis is present as such a finding will directly influence on treatment and follow-up. For the diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis due to atherosclerosis ultrasound examinations is the cornerstone, but computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging may be better in some cases. Development of high quality pocket-sized ultrasound scanners has allowed for semi quantitatively bed-side assessment of the carotid arteries and the heart. The investigators aim to study the feasibility and reliability of bed-side assessment of the carotid arteries and the heart by pocket-sized ultrasound scanners and the clinical influence of this examination when performed by experienced users. The investigators hypothesize that a significant proportion of this patient population can be clarified bed-side with no need of further imaging procedures for the assessment of the carotid arteries and the heart.

Patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing cardioversion will be randomized to undergo transesophageal echocardiography or they will receive warfarin for 3 weeks with an international normalized ratio (INR) value between 2.0-3.0. Those who do not want to use warfarin will be given an approved new oral anticoagulant agent istead of warfarin for 3 weeks. If thrombus is detected in left atrium or in left atrial appendage, no cardioversion will be performed. Other patients in the both groups will undergo electrical cardioversion. After the procedures all the patients will be given oral anticoagulant for at least 4 Weeks. All patients will have neurological examination and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at baseline and at postprocedural 7th day. Clinical and subclinical cerebral thromboembolic events detected by diffusion MRI will be recorded. Any bleeding events will also be recorded.