Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries"

Traumatic brain injury is an extremely common disease, it counts 50.000 deaths and 235.000 hospitalizations every year. Functional consequences of an acquired brain injury have a considerable impact on quality of lives of patients and care-givers with direct effects on balance, mobility and on psycho-social functions. Attention deficits are one of the most frequent and disabling consequences of severe brain injury. Within the wide spectrum of attentive problems, patients with traumatic brain injury frequently have shown difficulties in divided attention. Patients, care-givers and professionals frequently refer difficulties also in selective attention and vigilance as consequence of the trauma. It has been shown how these difficulties are tightly related with the missed return to work after two years from the injury. The hypothesis of this study is to investigate the feasibility of a rehabilitative protocol on gaming using the console Xbox and its efficacy in improving balance, mobility, risk of falling, attentive functions (selective and divided attention) in subjects which have had a traumatic brain injury at least 12 months before.

The purpose of this research study is to investigate the effectiveness of a technique designed to improve processing speed (i.e. the amount of time it takes to process information) in a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) population. The study is designed to study how well this technique can help people with TBI increase their processing speed and their ability to function better in everyday life.

Primary aim: To determine the efficacy of two dosing regimens of TXA initiated in the prehospital setting in patients with moderate to severe TBI (GCS score ≤12). Primary hypothesis: The null hypothesis is that random assignment to prehospital administration of TXA in patients with moderate to severe TBI will not change the proportion of patients with a favorable long-term neurologic outcome compared to random assignment to placebo, based on the GOS-E at 6 months. Secondary aims: To determine differences between TXA and placebo in the following outcomes for patients with moderate to severe TBI treated in the prehospital setting with 2 dosing regimens of TXA: Clinical outcomes: ICH progression, Marshall and Rotterdam CT classification scores, DRS at discharge and 6 months, GOS-E at discharge, 28-day survival, frequency of neurosurgical interventions, and ventilator-free, ICU-free, and hospital-free days. Safety outcomes: Development of seizures, cerebral ischemic events, myocardial infarction, deep venous thrombosis, and pulmonary thromboembolism. Mechanistic outcomes: Alterations in fibrinolysis based on fibrinolytic pathway mediators and degree of clot lysis based on TEG. Inclusion: Blunt and penetrating traumatic mechanism consistent with TBI with prehospital GCS ≤ 12 prior to administration of sedative and/or paralytic agents, prehospital SBP ≥ 90 mmHg, prehospital intravenous (IV) access, age ≥ 15yrs (or weight ≥ 50kg if age is unknown), EMS transport destination based on standard local practices determined to be a participating trauma center. Exclusion: Prehospital GCS=3 with no reactive pupil, estimated time from injury to start of study drug bolus dose >2 hours, unknown time of injury, clinical suspicion by EMS of seizure activity, acute MI or stroke or known history, to the extent possible, of seizures, thromboembolic disorders or renal dialysis, CPR by EMS prior to randomization, burns > 20% TBSA, suspected or known prisoners, suspected or known pregnancy, prehospital TXA or other pro-coagulant drug given prior to randomization, subjects who have activated the "opt-out" process when required by the local regulatory board. A multi-center double-blind randomized controlled trial with 3 treatment arms: Bolus/maintenance: 1 gram IV TXA bolus in the prehospital setting followed by a 1 gram IV maintenance infusion initiated on hospital arrival and infused over 8 hours. Bolus only: 2 grams IV TXA bolus in the prehospital setting followed by a placebo maintenance infusion initiated on hospital arrival and infused over 8 hours. Placebo: Placebo IV bolus in the prehospital setting followed by a placebo maintenance infusion initiated on hospital arrival and infused over 8 hours.

This Clinical Trial is a pilot study being conducted to study the impact of a specific cognitive rehabilitation program, Goal Management Training (GMT), in adult patients with executive dysfunction and associated problems in everyday functioning. The intervention program will also include relaxation training and psychoeducation regarding brain injury on everyday functioning, emotional status, and executive functioning. Goal Management Training focuses on teaching individuals strategies to compensate for executive functioning deficits and is based on a theory of goal neglect resulting in disorganized behavior following frontal lobe injury. It emphasizes strategies for self-monitoring and self-evaluation in everyday life. Given its goal-oriented emphasis, focus on individual everyday difficulties, and reports of improvements in self-reported executive failures and mood, GMT appears to be an ideal intervention treatment for individuals with executive and functional deficits. Given the emphasis of goal-oriented rehabilitation on reducing the impact of cognitive impairment on daily functioning, rather than attempting to restore cognitive abilities, a reduction in subjective reports of psychological distress is anticipated. This hypothesis is consistent with existing literature revealing reduced reports of annoyance and executive difficulties on self-report inventories. Improvements on tests of sustained attention and visuospatial problem-solving, as well as small effects on additional measures of planning, are also anticipated.

To assess the efficacy of an intravenous nonnarcotic pain medication on controlling patient pain. To assess the effect of an intravenous nonnarcotic pain medication on patient sedation levels in neurocritically ill patients. To assess the effect of an intravenous nonnarcotic pain medication on common side effects seen in patients taking other intravenous narcotic pain medication in the neurocritical care unit.

The broad aim of the proposed study is to evaluate the comprehensive benefit of a novel mind-body therapeutic intervention, Mind-Body Bridging (MBB), in Veterans who suffer from mTBI and sleep disturbance co-morbid with PTSD and/or pain at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System (VASLCHCS). Evidence for comprehensive benefit includes, but is not limited to, the average difference in outcomes between MBB and an active control, sleep education (SED), both integrated with the usual care for mTBI Veterans. The long-term goal of the proposed project is to introduce, implement and establish mind-body intervention programs as a behavioral health intervention modality that would serve as a generally sustainable health care intervention program before, during, and after deployment for military personnel.

Severe brain injuries induce alteration of state of consciousness. These functional limitations can be significantly alleviated by treatment neurorehabilitation, particularly if this is established early. It has been shown that treatment of vertical integration in patients in a vegetative state or minimally conscious state can improve the level of supervision and positive influence on rehabilitation. Therefore, there are sufficient indications that anticipate the treatment of vertical integration, since the phase of hospitalization in ICUs, may improve the functional outcome of the patient.

This study examines the effect of inhaled xenon gas in the treatment of newborn infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in combination with cooling, which is the standard treatment for this condition. The hypothesis is that the xenon + cooling combination will produce better neuroprotection than the standard treatment of cooling alone.

Background: Although glucose is essential to cerebral function, abundant experimental and clinical evidence demonstrates that endogenously released lactate, rather than glucose, is the preferential energy substrate for the brain in conditions of stress and acute injury. In patients with severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) monitored with cerebral microdialysis and brain tissue oxygen (PbtO2), our preliminary data show that increased brain extracellular lactate is frequently observed. Our findings indicate that elevated brain lactate more often occurs in the absence of brain hypoxia/ischemia and is mainly the consequence of increased cerebral glycolysis, i.e. it occurs in association with high extracellular pyruvate. These data suggest that the primary source of elevated lactate is activated glycolysis and strongly support the concept that endogenously released lactate can be utilized by the injured human brain as energy substrate. They prompt further investigation to examine whether exogenous lactate supplementation can be a valuable neuroprotective strategy after TBI or SAH. Indeed, in animal models of brain injury, administration of exogenous lactate improves neuronal and cognitive recovery. Hypothesis: The investigators test the hypothesis that lactate therapy, administered during the acute phase of TBI or SAH, might exercise neuroprotective actions by restoring brain energetics and improving brain tissue PO2 and cerebral blood flow (CBF). Aim of the study: The aim of this single-center study is to examine the effect of sodium lactate infusion on cerebral extracellular metabolites, brain tissue PO2 and cerebral blood flow, measured with CT perfusion and transcranial doppler (TCD). Design: Prospective phase II interventional study examining the effect of a continuous 3-6 hours infusion of sodium lactate (20-40 µmol/kg/min), administered within 48 hours from TBI or SAH, on cerebral extracellular glucose, pyruvate, glutamate, glycerol, PbtO2 and CBF.

The current study is a double-blind, placebo-control randomized clinical trial examining the efficacy of memory retraining in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Impairment in higher level cognitive processing, such as new learning and memory, is one of the most common deficits in individuals with TBI and such deficits have been shown to exert significant negative impact on multiple aspects of everyday life, including occupational and social functioning. Despite these findings, few studies have attempted to treat these cognitive deficits in order to improve the everyday functioning of individuals with TBI. The current proposal will evaluate (a)the efficacy of this treatment protocol within a TBI population,(b) the impact of the treatment on everyday functioning, (c) the long term efficacy of the treatment and (c) the utility of booster sessions in facilitating long-term treatment effects. The investigators will randomly assign individuals with TBI, with documented impairment in new learning abilities, to a memory retraining group or a placebo control group. Both groups will undergo baseline, immediate and long-term follow-up assessment consisting of: (1) a traditional neuropsychological battery and (2) an assessment of global functioning examining the impact of the treatment on daily activities. This design will allow us to evaluate the efficacy of this particular memory retraining technique in a TBI population through the assessment of cognitive function via a standard evaluation. In addition, the investigators will be able to draw conclusions regarding the impact of this particular memory remediation program on everyday life from questionnaires completed by the participant and a significant other. Optional enrollment in pre/post neuroimaging will also allow us to look at changes in the brain.