Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

Rehabilitation after stroke improves motor functions by promoting plastic changes however, after completing standard rehabilitation, 50-60% of patients still exhibit some degree of motor impairment and require at least partial assistance in activities of day living. Therefore, the exploration of other approaches to promote recovery is compulsory. Non invasive brain stimulation and motor rehabilitation are thought to share similar mechanisms in inducing neuroplastic changes in the human cortex and an emerging field of research is focusing on the possibility of coupling both therapies in order to achieve an additive effect and improve outcome. We hypothesize that coupling bihemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with simultaneous physical/occupational therapy in the subacute phase of ischemic stroke patients may improve upper limb motor recovery in humans. This is a randomized, controlled, double blind, cross-over, multicentre, clinical trial. Thirty-six ischemic stroke patients in the subacute phase will be recruited in three centers of neurorehabilitation in Switzerland. After stratification based on the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity according to the severity of the deficit, the patient will be randomized to receive besides standardized physical/occupational treatment according to the Impairment-Oriented Training, tDCS of themotor cortex (1.5 mA, 30 minutes) (group 1: 12 patients) or sham stimulation (without current) (group 2: 12 patients). After three weeks of treatment group 1 and 2 will cross-over and will be treated for other three weeks. Group 3 (12 patients) will receive routine physical/occupational treatment and sham tDCS for six weeks. Assessment will be performed before starting tDCS, at week 3, 6 and at 6 months. Outcome measures are the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Upper Extremity, the extended Barthel Index, the Ashworth scale, the Test of Upper Limb Apraxia (only baseline, week 6, month6), the grip strength evaluated by the Jamar Hydraulic Hand dynamometer. At baseline at week 6 and at month 6 depression will be assessed by the Hamilton depression Rating Scale.

Up to 25 subjects will use the Myomoe100 in the home setting under the distant supervision of an occupational therapist. We will look to see if they can perform functional activities safely without adverse events.

The aim of this project is to evaluate whether using an implementation intervention promotes use of best practices by rehabilitation professionals and leads to improvements in patient outcomes for individuals with stroke.

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of using foot-ankle orthosis at different angles on hyperextension control in stroke patients. The hypotheses of the study are: Hypothesis 1: Ho: The foot-ankle orthosis, which fixes the ankle at different angles (3 degrees of dorsiflexion - 5 degrees of dorsiflexion) in stroke patients, has no effect on the control of knee hyperextension. H1: Foot-ankle orthosis, which fixes the ankle at different angles (3 degrees of dorsiflexion - 5 degrees of dorsiflexion) in stroke patients, has an effect on the control of knee hyperextension.

Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) affects over 700,000 Americans every year and is the leading cause of long-term disability. Early neurological deterioration after AIS typically occurs within 72 hours of stroke onset and affects 30% of all stroke patients, who have a higher rate of death or poor outcome. Several mechanisms account for early neurological deterioration, including hemorrhagic conversion, systemic illness, cerebral edema, and seizure, but the most common cause is extension of the stroke into the "penumbra," a region of salvageable brain tissue surrounding the core of irreversible ischemic infarct. The penumbra is tenuously perfused by collateral blood vessels. AIS management is primarily focused on recanalizing the occluded artery causing the stroke, but an alternative and relatively unexplored approach is optimization of collateral blood flow. Over 60% of AIS patients present with a transient acute hypertensive response, which is theorized to be the result of either increased sympathoadrenal tone, poorly controlled underlying hypertension, or an unknown stroke-specific mechanism related to augmenting cerebral perfusion through collateral blood flow. Epidemiological data suggests worse stroke outcomes are associated with extremes of sustained hypo- or hypertension, which has led to dozens of clinical trials involving over 20,000 patients to determine if pharmacologically lowering blood pressure after AIS is beneficial. The results have been persistently neutral or negative. In contrast, there have been no major clinical trials on the efficacy of using vasopressor medications to maintain or increase baseline blood pressure after AIS, despite promising preclinical data and pilot studies that showed no increase in cerebral hemorrhage or edema. The only randomized trial of vasopressor use after AIS demonstrated an improvement in clinical outcomes, but there was no difference in mean blood pressure between the control and intervention arms, suggesting the beneficial effect was not exclusively related to induced hypertension. One possibility is that the vasopressor reduced blood pressure variability, which preliminary data has shown to be detrimental after AIS, although that aspect of neurovascular coupling has not been adequately studied in the acute phase after AIS. The reliance on IV vasopressors, which are only administered in the intensive care unit, is a fundamental limitation of prior research. An alternative, but untested, approach is to use the oral vasopressor midodrine hydrochloride. We hypothesize that frequent midodrine dosing after AIS can optimize collateral blood flow and help salvage the ischemic penumbra. The objective of this study is to develop tools to quantify midodrine's effect on blood pressure and the ischemic penumbra.

Stroke is a significant medical problem with 150,000 events occurring per year in the UK and incurring healthcare costs of £4 billion per year. Fifty percent of strokes will leave a lasting disability on first manifestation and 10-15% (roughly 16,500 per year) are unheralded ischaemic events in previously asymptomatic Carotid artery disease. Carotid Artery Disease is caused by the formation of an atherosclerotic plaque in the vessel. Stroke or TIA occurs when plaque or adherent thrombus breaks off and embolises to the brain, blocking off its blood supply. Hence, a carotid plaque is said to be symptomatic if it has caused a Stroke or TIA in the territory of the brain supplied by that vessel in the previous six months. Currently, the degree of stenosis (narrowing) of the artery by doppler ultrasound is the main assessment performed. Doppler ultrasound measures stenosis and elevation of blood flow velocity in the artery prior to surgical intervention. However, it has been shown that the degree of stenosis is a poor predictor of stroke as many asymptomatic patients have severe stenosis and many symptomatic patients have moderate stenosis. Stenosis is a two dimensional assessment of a 3-D structure. Other features of the plaque should be considered including the volume of the carotid plaque and its constituents. Carotid Plaque Volume has been measured in 339 individuals, with plaque volume being higher in symptomatic than asymptomatic individuals. In this study, plaque volume did not correlate with stenosis degree. No studies have been conducted measuring the change in carotid plaque volume and morphology following a stroke. This pilot study will perform serial duplex scans on recently symptomatic individuals over a 12 week period and observe the changes in Plaque Volume and morphology. This will attempt to prove that carotid plaque volume is a better predictor of stroke than stenosis. The investigators will also aim to identify other plaque features that may have an important role in predicting stroke risk. Documenting the timescale of change in plaque volume will aid us in defining appropriate timescales for treating the symptomatic population and when those having medical management's risk has returned to baseline. Observing the change in plaque immediately after stroke will improve our knowledge of the changes in plaques that lead to symptoms and may in the future help us predict which patients with asymptomatic carotid stenosis need operation.

To characterize and analyze the number, type and incidence of adverse events/suspected adverse drug reactions in patients treated with Apixaban, according to therapeutic indications approved in Mexico.

To analyze the real situation of intravenous thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke in China

Severe strokes, including large artery acute ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, continue to be the leading cause of death and disability in adults in the U.S. Due to concerns for a poor long-term quality of life, withdrawal of mechanical ventilation and supportive medical care with transition to comfort care is the most common cause of death in severe strokes, but occurs at a highly variable rate. Decision aids (DAs) are shared decision-making tools which have been successfully implemented and validated for many other diseases to assist difficult decision making. The investigators have developed a pilot DA for goals-of-care decisions for surrogates of severe, critically ill stroke patients. This was developed through qualitative research using semi-structured interviews in surrogate decision makers of traumatic brain injury patients and physicians, and adapted to severe strokes. The investigators now propose to pilot-test a DA for surrogates of critically ill severe stroke patients in a feasibility trial.

High blood pressure is one of the most common health problems in the United States. There are many drug treatment options for high blood pressure, but these medications are not always effective. People with treated high blood pressure can still suffer from other serious cardiovascular health problems, including heart attack, sudden death, or stroke. Genetic variations may cause some people to be more susceptible to these cardiovascular outcomes despite treatment. This study will identify new gene regions that may influence the effectiveness of high blood pressure drugs in preventing the above mentioned cardiovascular conditions.