Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries, Traumatic"

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) represents a significant public health risk in the United States leaving many survivors with significant long term cognitive deficits and at risk for neurodegenerative diseases. Despite extensive research there are no pharmacological therapies which have demonstrated significant improvement in neurological or cognitive recovery. Changes in glucose metabolism are considered the hallmark metabolic response to TBI and ketosis has been proposed as a therapy to ameliorate metabolic dysfunction. This trial investigates the therapeutic potential of a ketogenic or modified Atkins diet on neurocognitive outcome following moderate-severe TBI.

One of the most important neurological consequences following Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is the development of post traumatic epilepsy (PTE). Nevertheless, there is still no effective therapeutic intervention to reduce the occurrence of PTE. In previous studies with animals models of epilepsy, the biperiden decreased the incidence and intensity of spontaneous epileptic seizures besides delaying their appearance. The aim of this study is the evaluation of biperiden as antiepileptogenic drug to prevent PTE and also the determination of side effects, evaluating its cost-effectiveness in patients with moderate and severe TBI.

Background: Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a principal cause of post-injury hospitalization, disability, and death throughout the world. TBI is the leading cause of death and disability among young healthy people under 45 years of age and is predicted to be the most prevalent and costliest neurological condition in Canada through the year 2031. TBI is commonly classified into mild, moderate, and severe categories using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), with "severe TBI" defined as a GCS score ≤ 8. Severe TBI is a clinical emergency, during which the trauma team works swiftly to provide the appropriate care. Outcome assessment after TBI is complex and is influenced by pre-injury and injury factors as well as the patient's response at various stages of recovery. The first 48 hrs in hospital, despite being the most resource-intensive period, unfortunately result in the highest mortality. These patients are on life support at the time of their hospital admission and adequate and reliable clinical examination is impossible. Thus, patients receive treatment despite lack of a clear understanding of their prognoses. Hypothesis: Admission Computed Tomographic Perfusion (CTP) can diagnose brain death reliably in severe TBI patients in early stage upon hospital admission, which is not recognised in the usual clinical practice due to inadequate reliable clinical examination. In a small prospective pilot study of 19 patients with severe TBI, admission CTP could predict early in hospital mortality with 75% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% positive predictive value (PPV) and 94% negative predictive value (NPV) and perfect inter-rater reliability (kappa=1). We propose ACT-TBI study to evaluate CTP as a triage tool to diagnose early mortality at the time of admission in patients with severe TBI. Primary Objective: To validate admission CTP features of brain death, relative to the clinical examination outcome, for characterizing early in-hospital mortality. Secondary objectives: To establish the safety and interrater reliability of admission CTP.

This study will establish the capability of a suite of conventional tests and the Neurolign Dx_100 I-PAS goggle system to reliably and objectively detect mTBI in an acute setting when comparing individuals with mTBI to controls with minor injuries in a similarly stressful environment.

The overall objective is to obtain an initial assessment of the value of using [18F]3F4AP for imaging demyelinating diseases such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), neurodegenerative diseases such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD): Aim 1) Assess the safety of [18F]3F4AP in healthy volunteers and subjects with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and neurocognitive impaired subjects (AD/MCI). Hypothesis 1: Administration of [18F]3F4AP will result in no changes in vitals or other adverse events. Aim 2) Assess the radiation doses to the main organs in healthy volunteers. Hypothesis 2: the radiation doses to each organ will be comparable in all subjects and within the acceptable limits. Aim 3) Assess the pharmacokinetics of a bolus infusion of [18F]3F4AP in humans including healthy volunteers and patients. Hypothesis 3: the pharmacokinetics of [18F]3F4AP at the whole brain level will be similar in controls, TBI and AD/MCI subjects. The kinetics in demyelinated lesions will be slower than in healthy areas. Aim 4) Correlate MR images with [18F]3F4AP PET images. Hypothesis 4A: all the lesions seen on the MRI will show increased signal (VT or SUV) on the PET images. Hypothesis 4B: some of the lesions on the MRI will show increased signal (VT or SUV) on the PET but not all. Aim 5) Correlate [18F]3F4AP PET signal with neuropsychological testing in people with TBI and AD/MCI. Hypothesis 5A: increased PET signal (VT or SUV) will correlate with impaired Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Sleep wake disturbances compound recovery in over half of pediatric traumatic brain injury survivors, leading to impaired quality of life, and few effective interventions exist to treat this important morbidity. Therefore, this study will conduct a randomized controlled trial evaluating a melatonin intervention started during hospitalization and continued after discharge compared to placebo. The trial will investigate if this intervention is feasible, acceptable, and effective at reducing sleep wake disturbances as measured on the Sleep Disturbances Scale for Children 1-month after hospital discharge. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive the intervention (melatonin) or to the control group (placebo) with a goal of equal numbers of participants in each group and all will receive sleep education. Participants will be followed closely after consent and outcomes will be assessed at hospital discharge, 2-weeks, and 1-month. Outcomes will focus on feasibility (ability to recruit patients into the trial) and acceptability (patient safety and satisfaction), but will also assess the effectiveness of the intervention to reduce sleep disturbances after discharge. The investigators will assess sleep using questionnaires and actigraphy (watch-like activity monitors). Exploratory outcomes will include global health outcomes.

The investigators hypothesize that patients with mild TBI and normal TCD can be safely discharged home immediately after the ED. The targeted population is the category of patients eligible for early discharge: 1) patients with mild lesions on the initial CT scan and a GCS 15 after CT scan completion and, 2) patients with no lesion on the initial cerebral CT scan with at least one of the following risk factors: GCS 14 after CT scan completion, persisting post-traumatic nausea/vomiting/headaches, concomitant alcoholic intoxication or patients treated with aspirin. The study will not include mild TBI patients who are not eligible for early discharge: patients with no possibility of home supervision, those with a GCS lower than 14 after the CT scan or those treated with anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs other than aspirin. The investigators expect the TCD-based strategy to be non-inferior compared to the standard strategy according to French recommendations in terms of the 3-months neurological outcome. From a public health standpoint, the use of TCD as a triage tool may change current guidelines regarding mild TBI management.

The purpose of this project is to provide a new framework for diagnosing and monitoring treatment of light sensitivity and headache by objective measurement of facial features, pupil responses, retinal electrical responses and autonomic nerve responses to light.

This study will evaluate if traumatic intracranial hemorrhage can be safely ruled out by using a microwave scanner (MD100) in conjunction with a combination of different brain biomarkers analyzed in serum.

The purpose of this study is to innovatively design and develop computerized dual-task balance training modules and home modules, and conduct proactive clinical verification to focus on the effectiveness of balance control and gait stabilization strategies. It is expected that in addition to the development of the training module, a proactive study will be conducted at the same time. During the period from the fourth quarter of the first year to the second year, there will be 25 patients in the experimental group and 25 patients in the control group. A total of 50 patients will undergo preliminary efficacy analysis.