
Penumbra Imaging Collaborative Study (PICS)
StrokeThe primary aim of this study are to gather data on the "real world" experience of the Penumbra System and to determine if there is a correlate between the imaging-defined size of the ischemic penumbra at admission and patient outcome in patients already treated by the System. This will be accomplished by the collection of all available admission imaging data along with patient clinical and functional outcome results at 90-day follow-up to determine if a positive association exists between these variables. A secondary aim is to collect and summarize the 90-day functional outcome data for the purpose of sample size estimation for a potential randomized concurrent controlled trial. This will be accomplished by collecting the data on 90-day modified Rankin Scores (mRS) and all cause mortality.

Bone Loss, Fractures, and Management of Bone Health in People With Stroke in Managed Rehabilitation...
StrokeAnoxia1 moreThe purpose of the study is to evaluate the state of bone health of brain injury patients being seen within a rehabilitation setting. Osteopenia is a condition of bone in which decreased calcification, decreased density, or reduced mass occurs. Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become extremely porous, are subject to fracture, and heal slowly. More specifically, the prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis at specific anatomic locations (e.g., forearms, hips, spine) will be determined as will specific interventions (e.g., use of vitamins, nutritional supplements, specific prescription medications) that people with brain injury may be applying, or have applied, to manage their bone health. An attempt will also be made to evaluate severity of brain injury, based on loss of muscle strength/function, and to compare this data with bone-focused information such as bone mineral density (BMD), falls, and history.

Cost-Effectiveness of a Specialized Ultrasound Instrument to Diagnose Carotid Stenosis as a Way...
Carotid StenosisCerebrovascular AccidentCarotid stenosis, a condition in which plaque builds up inside the arteries of the neck and blocks blood flow to the brain, is one common cause of stroke. This study will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of using a new, specialized ultrasound device to screen individuals who are at risk for carotid stenosis.

PeRiodontal Treatment to Eliminate Minority InEquality and Rural Disparities in Stroke
Periodontal DiseaseStroke1 moreThe PREMIERS study is a proposal for conducting an adequately powered two center phase III randomized controlled trial to test whether intensive periodontal treatment reduces the risk of recurrent vascular events among ischemic stroke and TIA survivors. The study uses the resources in both states including established dental centers, Joint Commission Certified Stroke Centers, the Schools of Public Health, and the Institute for Partnerships to Eliminate Health Disparities. The proposal addresses specific issues with regards to recruitment of African-American and rural stroke/TIA patients advocating the use of culturally appropriate strategies to educate the study subjects regarding stroke, periodontal disease and the periodontal stroke link. The study proposes to utilize economic evaluation of the periodontal intervention from the budgetary perspective. The focus will be on the financial sustainability of providing aggressive periodontal therapy (with certain, although relatively low expenditures) in exchange for a reduction of uncertain recurrent vascular events that may require high cost emergency department utilization and/or inpatient care. The sustainability of the proposed intervention after the completion of the project is integrally linked to the health economic assessment to show the health care cost savings. By integration with a rural primary care center, with an African American majority and households with average incomes below the state average, the study ensures that the proposed intervention to reduce stroke disparity is applicable to this target population.

Balance and Gait Characteristics to Predict Accidental Falls in Community-dwelling Stroke Elderly...
Cerebrovascular AccidentAccidental FallsBackground: Accidental falls result in major physical and psychological morbidity in the elderly, especially stroke patients. To get optimal prevention of stroke falls, it is crucial to identify independent risk factors from multivariate analysis of related balance and gait parameters. Aim: To evaluate the effects of balance and gait characteristics in determining whether or not accidental falls may happen. To investigate if the balance and gait parameters affect the time from lesion to when (and if) patients suffer from falls. To compare differences of balance and gait parameters in accidental fall patients between those with severe accidental injuries and those without severe injuries. Methods: The 2-year observational cohort study will enroll 706 elderly stroke patients, who have not had a previous stroke. They will be retrieved from the Inpatient department and followed-up regularly in the Outpatient department when they are discharged. All subjects will be evaluated at 1 month and 6 months after stroke. These evaluations will include: mental, cognition and depression status; lower-limb muscle strength assessed by a dynamometer as well as range of motion of joints assessed by a biaxial electro-goniometry; functional independence measure; balance and gait pattern will be assessed by both clinical observation and objective laboratory examination (a dynamic posturography and computerized gait analysis system); falls and fall-related injuries during the proceeding year. Differences in baseline characteristics are tested by one-way ANOVA, Mann Whitney U or t tests, if appropriate. The investigators will identify the independent risk factors of accidental falls with logistic regression and use the log rank statistic of Kaplan-Meier survival curve to differentiate the risk of accidental falls or fall-related injuries in different groups.

Self-Management in Stroke Survivors
StrokeHypertensionThis is a feasibility study of using health-IT to promote self-management of risk factors in stroke survivors.

Registry of Acute Stroke Under New Oral Anticoagulants -Pilot (RASUNOA-Pilot)
Ischemic StrokeIntracranial HemorrhageThe registry of acute stroke under new oral anticoagulants (RASUNOA) is a German multicenter, prospective, observational registry performed at about 50 study centers covering about 50.000 acute ischemic strokes and 6000 acute intracranial hemorrhages per year. Study enrollment will be consecutive. The RASUNOA registry study center is the University Medical Center of the Principal Investigator (Heidelberg, Germany). The registry will focus on treatment decisions and concepts in patients being under treatment with a new oral anticoagulant and suffering from acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.

The Relationship Between Motor Cortex Oxygenation and Motor Function Recovery in Stroke Patients...
StrokeStroke is the most common cause of motor function impairment. However, the functional impairment is not totally irreversible. Several mechanisms may involved in both the cortical and motor function recovery after onset of stroke, and most of them are related to changes of cortical perfusion and metabolism. Motor function recovery after stroke (especially middle cerebral artery territory lesion) frequently follow stereotypic pattern (brunnström stage). This study is designed to investigate the relationship between motor cortex oxygenation/metabolism and motor function recovery after stroke. To seek if there is similar stereotypic pattern of motor cortex oxygenation/metabolism change during the recover stage after stroke.

Serum Neuroglobin and HIF-1α in Acute Ischemic Stroke
Acute Ischemic StrokeNeuroglobin has shown rich neuroprotective effects against cerebral ischemia and hypoxia, and therefore has the potential to impact outcomes after acute ischemic stroke. Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α is neuroprotective in several models of experimental brain injury and is increased in brain after acute cerebral infarction in humans and experimental animals.The investigators sought to examine the changes in serum neuroglobin and HIF-1α concentrations in patients with acute ischemic stroke during the initial 96-h period after stroke and assessed the relation between them and the relation of them to prognosis of such patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Neutrophil Extracellular Traps and Thrombolysis in the Acute Stroke
Acute StrokeThe purpose of the study was to investigate the correlation between the nucleosome concentration and the rate of recanalization after thrombolysis. All patients were admitted to the Stroke Unit at the University Hospital Sainte-Anne where they received standard stroke care. The investigators included all patients treated or not by intravenous thrombolysis for anterior circulation stroke with or without vessel occlusion. Exclusion criteria were neoplasms, chronic inflammatory diseases and cytostatic therapy at the time of stroke and stroke-specifics symptoms that had started earlier than 4.5 hours before admission.