
A Post Discharge Intervention to Improve Stroke Outcomes
Cerebrovascular AccidentThe purpose of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to test the effectiveness of a comprehensive interdisciplinary post-discharge stroke care management intervention in improving the overall well-being of 190 stroke survivors as compared to 190 patients who receive usual post-discharge stroke care.

Cognitive and Emotional Impairment After Stroke
StrokeCognitive Impairment1 moreCognitive and emotional symptoms are often seen in the acute phase of a stroke. The prevalence of such symptoms later and the mechanisms explaining the symptoms are not fully known. The causes of poststroke dementia are likely to be multifactorial (Cerebrovascular Diseases 2006). The investigators want to include all patients with first ever stroke without significant cognitive decline prior to the stroke (IQCODE cut-off 3,7) and follow them up for one year. At baseline we will make stroke classifications, measure neurological deficits according to NIHSS, evaluate cognitive and emotional function and make registrations of vascular risk factors, including precerebral color duplex scan with measurement of IMT in CCA. The investigators will then randomize the patients into multifactorial vascular-risk-factor-intervention in the hospital or care as usual in the primary health care. 8-12 months after stroke onset, survivors will undergo new examinations to evaluate neurological, cognitive and emotional functions, as well as MRI and SPECT.

Stroke Prevention in Sickle Cell Anemia (STOP 2)
Blood DiseaseCerebrovascular Accident2 moreTo determine how long blood transfusions are needed for primary stroke prevention. Also, to determine the duration of risk associated with abnormal transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) and to determine the specificity of the stroke risk model developed in STOP 1 in patients with abnormal TCD measurements.

SLEep APnea Screening Using Mobile Ambulatory Recorders After TIA/Stroke
StrokeTransient Ischemic Attack1 moreObstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common after stroke/TIA and, left untreated, is associated with recurrent vascular events, poor functional outcomes, and long-term mortality. Despite its high prevalence, OSA often remains underdiagnosed after stroke. The purpose of this study is to evaluate portable sleep monitors (PSMs) as a broad screening tool for OSA after stroke/TIA. The study investigators hypothesize that the screening with PSMs will lead to an increase in the diagnosis of treatable OSA after stroke/TIA and an improvement in sleep-related and functional outcomes.

Electronic Alerts for Stroke Prevention in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation or Atrial Flutter
Atrial FibrillationStrokeAtrial fibrillation (AF) is the most preventable cause of stroke. CHADS and CHA2DS2VASc scores predict the likelihood of stroke in patients with nonvalvular AF. Atrial flutter confers a similar risk of stroke as atrial fibrillation. Anticoagulant therapy with warfarin, dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban is effective for prevention of thromboembolic stroke in most patients with AF. However, despite widely available risk stratification tools, five options for anticoagulation, and evidence-based practice guidelines, thromboprophylaxis for stroke prevention in AF is under-prescribed in the U.S., Europe, and worldwide. The investigators have previously demonstrated the efficacy of an alert-based computerized decision support (CDS) strategy for prevention of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) in at-risk hospitalized patients not receiving any thromboprophylaxis. The investigators' goal is to create and evaluate an alert-based CDS strategy for stroke prevention in patients with nonvalvular AF or atrial flutter in a randomized controlled trial.

Combining Robotic-Assisted Therapy and Pharmacotherapy in Post-Stroke Rehabilitation
StrokeStroke is the leading cause of acquired long-term disability in adults in developed countries. Despite aggressive rehabilitation, lasting upper extremity impairment remains in the majority of stroke survivors. It is hypothesized that enhancing neuroplasticity through the combination of drug therapy and physical therapy could enhance outcomes for stroke survivors. The combination of levodopa and intensive physical therapy shows promise in enhancing the functional motor recovery of stroke patients during the sub-acute and chronic period without reported significant side effects. Robotic-aided training is a promising tool that has the potential to deliver high-intensity, task-oriented, reproducible therapy that can decrease the burden on a therapist. Since the evidence behind dopaminergic potentiation of neuroplasticity and stroke recovery is promising, it is the investigators aim to combine dopaminergic drug therapy with highly intensive robotic-assisted therapy to provide superior upper extremity functional recovery over traditional stroke rehabilitation.

Culturally Tailoring a Stroke Intervention in Community Senior Centers
HypertensionStroke3 moreStroke is a cruel disease that disproportionately kills and disables African-Americans, Latinos, Chinese-Americans and Korean-Americans; seniors with high blood pressure are at particularly high risk. There is a higher incidence of hemorrhagic stroke in African Americans, Latinos, and Chinese Americans relative to non-Latino whites. Asian-Americans have up to 1.4 higher relative risk of stroke death compared to U.S. non-Latino whites. A critical need therefore exists for a sustainable and scalable mechanism to disseminate culturally-tailored stroke knowledge/prevention education in community-based settings where large numbers of these high-risk ethnic minority older adult groups are regularly served, such as in federally funded Multipurpose Senior Centers (MPCs) that exist across the nation (16 of which are in Los Angeles alone). The overall objective of the proposed study is to develop and test the implementation of a training program for case managers at senior centers to implement a stoke knowledge/prevention education program among four high-risk ethnic minority older adult groups--Korean-American, Chinese-American, African-American, Latinos. We propose to develop a culturally-tailored case manager training curriculum, implement the training at 4 community-based sites, and evaluate the training model using a randomized wait-list controlled trial (n=244) testing the hypothesis that training case managers will decrease older adult participants' stroke risk in a sustainable fashion through increasing their preventative behavior (i.e. increasing their physical activity--mean steps/day--at 1 and 3 months). Findings will inform similar community-academic partnership efforts around stroke and other disease-specific prevention research/interventions; they will also determine next steps in terms of whether this case manager-centric model can be scaled up and deployed in other community-based settings.

Healthy Lifestyles After Stroke - Stroke Coach
StrokeApoplexy11 moreThe purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of a lifestyle modification telehealth program on health-related behaviours in community-dwelling individuals living with stroke.

Dabigatran Etexilate for Secondary Stroke Prevention in Patients With Embolic Stroke of Undetermined...
StrokeSecondary PreventionThis trial will enroll approximately 6,000 patients with recent embolic stroke of unknown source (ESUS). Patients will be randomized to dabigatran or acetylsalicyclic acid (ASA) (1:1 ratio) and have visits every three months. The study doctor may prescribe blinded concomitant ASA for pts with coronary artery disease but this is not mandatory. All Adverse Events (AEs), Serious Adverse Events (SAEs), outcome events will be recorded. The trial will conclude when the required number of stroke events are positively adjudicated which is estimated to take 3 years (including 2.5 years of enrollment).

Primary Prevention of Stroke in Children With SCD in Sub-Saharan Africa II
Sickle Cell DiseaseStrokeThe overall goal of this proposal is to conduct a partial double-blind randomized Phase III clinical trial for primary stroke prevention in children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) in sub-Saharan Africa.