Active clinical trials for "Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease"

Regardless of the cause of ulnar nerve entrapment neuropathy, we are planning to investigate the relationship between sleep quality disorder that may develop due to ulnar neuropathy and the level of entrapment in electromyelography.

The investigators are comparing two standard of care procedures which can be performed at the same time, or sequentially. The hypothesis being tested is whether simultaneous release of both the carpal Tunnel and the Pronator Teres results in a better outcome in terms of symptom relief and recurrence than Carpal Tunnel Release alone when signs and symptoms of both carpal tunnel and pronator Teres syndromes are present.

The purpose of the study is to investigate utility and appropriateness of treatment interventions taking into account the presumed mechanisms of two main varieties of ulnar neuropathy at the elbow (UNE). The investigators hypothesize that in patients with UNE under the humeroulnar aponeurosis (HUA) surgical HUA release (simple decompression) is superior to conservative treatment. By contrast, in patients with UNE at the retroepicondylar (RTC) groove surgical HUA release (simple decompression) should not be superior to conservative treatment.

Irisin is an exercise-mimetic myokine secreted by skeletal muscle. Compelling evidence in animal models and humans showed that Irisin prevents onset of musculoskeletal atrophy and its low serum levels are predictive of sarcopenia. The investigators evaluated the levels of irisin in patients affected by an hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy, namely Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), in order to investigate possible key determinants of their muscle quality and possibly prevent the progressive distal weakness and muscle atrophy.

Rationale: Chronic abdominal pain is a frequently occurring condition. Although hardly ever considered, the abdominal wall is the primary cause in 10-30% of cases. Most often it is caused by entrapment of an intercostal nerve in the anterior rectus sheath, the Anterior Cutaneous Nerve Entrapment Syndrome (ACNES). Treatment consists of local anaesthetic injections combined with methyl-prednisolon. When ineffective, a neurectomy at the site of penetration out of the ventral rectus sheet should be considered. This neurectomy however is effective in 73% of cases, leaving some 25% of patients in pain. Whether these refractory ACNES patients suffer from underlying pathologic pain disorders is subject to investigation, by using quantitative sensory testing (QST). Objective: To investigate nociceptive processing and possible underlying pathological pain processing mechanisms in ACNES patients. Study design: An observational case-control study. Study population: Patients treated for ACNES (n = 50) compared to healthy controls from an existing database. Measurements: Quantitative sensory testing (QST) of nociception, performed after treatment of ACNES for both successfully treated and refractory patients in comparison to healthy controls. Visual Analogue Scores (VAS) measured before, during and after testing procedures. Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale (PASS) and Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) questionnaires. Main study parameters: Pressure pain and electrical pain thresholds as investigated by QST. Secondary study parameters are VAS-scores and results of PASS and PCS questionnaires.

The primary aim of this study is to discover whether patients with CMT type 1 and 2 have neuromuscular junction transmission deficits. The secondary aim is to collect information of different clinical and electrophysiological test procedures to perform possible future clinical trials in CMT patients.

This trial is studying Electrical Impedance Myography (EIM) for measuring muscle health. The trial is studying people with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), other neuromuscular diseases, and healthy volunteers to see if the EIM device can measure disease in muscle tissue.

CMT is a rare disease for which novel treatments are being developed. Evaluation of intervention efficacy is hampered by slow progression and lack of sensitive outcome measures. Primary goal of the project is to identify and validate RNA and protein derived biomarkers in blood of CMT patients for selected outcome measures over 2 years. The investigators expect to develop more responsive outcome measures and circulating biomarkers to improve assessment of intervention efficacy in forthcoming therapeutic trials.

The long term goal of this proposal is to precisely characterize the auditory and vestibular abilities of children with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) and how these abilities evolve during the progression of the disorder. This information will be used to refine the management methods for hearing loss and vestibular disorders in these patients. Given that the phenotypic severity is variable within the CMT patient population, we predict that not all CMT patients will present with auditory and vestibular dysfunction. We will therefore collect specimens (i.e., buccal swabs and saliva) from study participants so that their DNA can be isolated and used to determine the genetic basis for auditory and vestibular dysfunction in peripheral neuropathies.

Charcot-Marie-Tooth 4J (CMT4J) is a rare inherited peripheral neuropathy often characterized by rapidly progressive, asymmetrical upper and lower extremity weakness, muscle atrophy leading to loss of ambulation, respiratory compromise and premature death with no available treatment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical characteristics and natural clinical progression of symptoms in individuals with CMT4J. This natural history study is important to better understand disease course to be able to determine clinically meaningful outcome measures for use in future clinical trials.