Active clinical trials for "Brain Diseases"

Single centre randomized controlled two arm clinical trial of patients after out of hospital cardiac arrest with return of spontaneous circulation. The trial objective is to investigate external cooling of cardiac arrest patients after cardiac arrest with the CAERvest cooling device. After checking inclusion and exclusion criteria and immediately after return of spontaneous circulation, the CAERvest device will be filled and placed on the supine patient's chest. A recording oesophageal temperature probe will be inserted and connected to the defibrillator. Then the patient will be transported to the Emergency Department. After admission to the emergency department, an additional endovascular cooling device will be placed and the patient will be cooled to 33°C for 24 hours (starting after reaching the target temperature range of under 34°C) with the endovascular cooling device. Then the patient will be rewarmed at 0.25 °C/h. The CAERvest device will be removed, when a temperature below 34°C is reached. After rewarming, the temperature will be controlled to be below 37.5°C for until 48 hours after cardiac arrest. After this time point pyrexia (core temperature above 37.5°C) will be treated with common pharmaceutical measures. Sedation, analgesia and relaxation will be discontinued at 36.5°C. Neurologic evaluation will be started not before 72 hours after cardiac arrest with a predefined evaluation protocol. During follow up the following secondary outcomes will be recorded: Survival to hospital discharge, survival to 30 days, survival to 6 months, best neurologic function within 30 days, best neurologic function within 6 months, and quality of life at 6 months.

Hyperoxygenation for resuscitation of abnormal fetal heart rate tracings has been routine obstetric practice. However, there have not been any studies to support this practice. Recent literature have either found no associated benefit to intrapartum maternal oxygen administration, or in a number of studies demonstrated higher risk of neonatal complications. Despite these studies, the evidences have not been adequate to change the clinical practice because the majority of these studies either focused on biological differences rather than clinical outcomes data or were retrospective rather than randomized trials. Therefore, the investigators propose a large single center randomized clinical trial to determine the effects of maternal hyperoxygenation therapy for the treatment of fetal heart rate tracing abnormalities.

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) is a common and increasingly recognized disorder in cirrhosis (30% to 73%). One of the most important predisposing factors of SIBO is small bowel dysmotility. Multiple studies have shown that the presence of SIBO is strongly linked to the pathogenesis of Minimal Hepatic Encephalopathy (MHE) also known as Covert Hepatic Encephalopathy (CHE). Consequently, altering and modulating the intestinal microbiota with ammonia-lowering agents and Rifaximin has been the target treatment strategy in CHE. The aim of this study is to determine the therapeutic effect of Rifaximin on patients with CHE and underlying SIBO while assessing the influence of Rifaximin on small bowel motility. In this prospective interventional study, 40 patients with liver cirrhosis will be screened for Covert Hepatic Encephalopathy (CHE) using neuro-psychometric tests. Patients diagnosed with CHE will undergo breath test (BT) for SIBO screening. Afterwards, wireless motility capsule (The SmartPill) will be performed in all patients with a positive BT. Thereafter, the cirrhotic patients diagnosed with CHE and SIBO will receive Rifaximin 550 mg PO twice daily for eight weeks. At the end of treatment, neuro-psychometric tests will be repeated to evaluate the therapeutic effect on CHE. In addition, BT and SmartPill will be repeated at the completion of the Rifaximin treatment period to assess the effect on small bowel motility. All collected clinical parameters at the end of the study will be compared to baseline values.

The aim of the proposed project is to study the effects of a probiotic preparation (VSL#3®) for the prevention of recurrence of HE (Hepatic encephalopathy) in patients after the recovery of an episode of overt HE (secondary prophylaxis)

This is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on the effectiveness of treatment with beta-blockers to prevent decompensation of cirrhosis with portal hypertension.

Delirium and long-term cognitive dysfunction are important problems in intensive care patients. Patients with sepsis are at a high risk of developing delirium (septic encephalopathy), which may be an important risk factor for the development of long-term cognitive dysfunction. Working hypotheses: 1. Septic encephalopathy and cognitive dysfunction are caused by an unspecific reaction of the brain to an intense inflammatory stimulus. 2. It is possible to therapeutically influence the inflammatory response and its effects on the brain.

To determine the safety and CSF penetration of combined ganciclovir and foscarnet treatment for presumed cytomegalovirus encephalitis or radiculomyelopathy. This study proposes to investigate the use of combined ganciclovir and foscarnet to maximize the antiviral regimen. Current evidence suggests that a combination of ganciclovir and foscarnet may be the most efficacious therapy and appears to be well tolerated. This study will provide key information regarding safety and CSF penetration of the drugs available for treatment of these lethal diseases. It will also provide preliminary information regarding virologic factors relevant to CMV CNS disease. The study will also provide further data about the natural history of CMV brain infection detected by a combination of symptom complex and PCR identification of CMV in CSF and the potential of semi-quantitative PCR evaluation of the CSF for the disease.

Aims and Objectives: To determine the safety and efficacy of rifaximin plus lactulose as secondary prophylaxis of HE compared to lactulose alone. To evaluate the effect of long-term administration of rifaximin on development of resistant mutants and investigating its correlation with its efficacy. Methods: An open label parallel, prospective interventional study was conducted. One hundred patients experienced at least one attack of hepatic encephalopathy were included in the study. Patients were randomly allocated either to receive rifaximin plus lactulose or lactulose alone for 6 months. Conn score, Model of End stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, asterixis grade, complete blood count (CBC), liver function tests, kidney function tests, urine and stool analysis and abdominal ultrasonography were compared in both groups. The primary efficacy endpoint was the time to the first breakthrough. The secondary efficacy endpoint was the time to the first hospitalization involving HE. Safety assessment was done by reporting any adverse events, serious adverse events and by repeating biochemical evaluation every 2 weeks. Determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of rifaximin for lactose fermenter isolates was done for the entire patients before starting treatment and at the end of treatment.

In some patients, a few days or weeks after recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning, new symptoms develop. These can affect mood, ability to think or remember clearly, and movements. Some people develop movement problems that are similar to Parkinson's disease. This damage to brain tissue is called "encephalopathy," and this study will look at the effect of pressurized oxygen therapy on long term, or chronic, encephalopathy.

Among term infants, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy due to acute perinatal asphyxia remains an important cause of brain injury in childhood. Infants with moderate encephalopathy have a 10 percent risk of death, and those who survive have a 30 percent risk of disabilities. Sixty percent of infants with severe encephalopathy die, and many, if not all, survivors are disabled. Whole-body hypothermia reduces the risk of death or disability in infants with moderate or severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.