
Trial of Mongolian Medicine ZhenBao Pills for Upper-limb Dysfunction After Stroke
Ischemic StrokeThe trial was designed to test the hypothesis that treatment with Mongolian Medicine ZhenBao Pills has a positive effect on upper-limb motor recovery after acute ischemic stroke.

Evaluating Myocardial Ischemia in Chest Pain Using Exercise CMR
Ischemic Heart DiseaseCoronary Artery Disease4 moreIschemic Heart Disease (IHD) is a condition of recurring chest pain or discomfort that occurs when a part of the heart is not receiving sufficient blood flow. It is a major public health concern internationally and in Singapore, the leading cause of death from cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has the ability to assess heart structures, scarring or lack of blood supply to the heart muscle with great accuracy and without any radiation involved. A CMR-compatible cycle ergometer can offer a safe and low cost stress equipment to assess heart function and motion abnormalities, and restrictions of the blood supply to the heart tissues due to partial or complete blockages of the blood vessels. This study aims to develop an exercise-CMR stress protocol by testing its feasibility and robustness in assessing changes in cardiac volumes and function due to physical exertion in healthy individuals and to assess the accuracy of the multiparametric stress-CMR as a diagnostic tool for ischemic-causing coronary artery disease (CAD) with coronary fractional flow reserve (FFR) as a reference. to measure the overall economic impact of ischaemic heart disease by estimating the direct and indirect medical costs for each participant. The current sample costs will be extrapolated to estimate the annual costs of treating and managing ischaemic heart disease in the local population. to evaluate the effects of coronary microvascular dysfunction on coronary flow and regulation, physiological response and cardiac sympathetic signaling in patients with chest pain.

Dynamic Computed Tomography Myocardial Perfusion Imaging for Detection of Coronary Artery Disease...
Coronary Artery DiseaseIschemiaCoronary artery computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is a widely used, highly accurate technique for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD), with sensitivity and negative predictive values of over 90% (1-4). Patients with normal CTA findings have an excellent prognosis and do not require further testing for CAD (5). However, like invasive coronary angiography (QCA), CTA is an anatomic test and, unless lesions are very severe (>90% stenosis), cannot reliably predict the impairment of flow (functional significance) of intermediate grade stenoses. For this reason, in approximately 15-25% of patients, additional functional testing may be required after CTA, usually in the form of stress testing (6-8). Stress testing is commonly done by exercise or pharmacologic stress with electrocardiographic monitoring and often, imaging of myocardial perfusion by nuclear scintigraphy (MPI) or detection of abnormal contraction by echocardiography. This requires a separate procedure, entailing time, expense and limited risk. Furthermore, in patients with previously known CAD, CTA alone is not an adequate test, because in most cases there are multiple lesions that are possible sources of ischemia. Over the last 10 years, these investigators and others around the world have developed a method of imaging myocardial perfusion by CT (CTP). This test is an adjunct to the usual Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) procedure and can be done immediately thereafter, using conventional pharmacologic stress agents. It has demonstrated accuracy in many single center trials, and in this large multicenter study, the CORE320 trial (9,10) which showed a high accuracy in predicting the combined results of QCA plus MPI testing and a second multicenter trial established non-inferiority of myocardial CTP compared with nuclear stress testing (11,12). Additionally, this investigator group has published a direct comparison of diagnostic performance of myocardial CTP imaging and SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging and demonstrated superior diagnostic performance of CTP imaging compared with SPECT for the diagnosis of significant disease on invasive angiography (13). CTP images can be acquired with two different approaches: static or dynamic. In the CORE320 study, the CTP protocol used static acquisition method. The static CTP method, samples a snapshot of the iodine distribution in the blood pool and the myocardium over a short period of time, targeting either the upslope or the peak of contrast bolus. The notion behind this is that, at the upslope of the contrast, the difference in attenuation value of the ischemic and remote myocardium is at the maximum which enables for qualitative and semi-quantitative assessment of myocardial perfusion defects. The static CTP, however, does not allow for direct quantification of the myocardial blood flow (MBF). One of the drawbacks of static CTP lies in the acquirement of only one sample of data and the possibility of mistiming of the contrast bolus that results in poor contrast-to-tissue ratios by missing the peak attenuation (14). Output and flow rate of the contrast material may affect bolus timing. In addition, the acquisition of data from sequential heartbeats affects the attenuation gradient and may result in a heterogeneous iodine distribution, mimicking perfusion defects (15). Furthermore, the static CTP is limited in detection of balanced ischemia, where the perfusion of the entire myocardium is impaired and therefore there is no reference remote myocardium for comparison for semi-quantitative or qualitative static methods of CTP interpretation. Dynamic CT perfusion imaging uses serial imaging over time to record the kinetics of iodinated contrast in the arterial blood pool and myocardium. This technique allows for multiple sampling of the myocardium and the blood pool and creating time attenuation curves (TAC) by measuring the change in CT attenuation over time. Mathematical modelling of TACs permits for direct quantification of MBF. Despite its advantages, the use of dynamic CTP were limited in the past. A high temporal resolution and high number of detectors are required for dynamic CTP to allow for entire myocardial coverage, and in order to obtain multiple consecutive images at high heart rates(16,17). But the main challenge of dynamic CTP acquisition was the high radiation dose associated with this technique. Nevertheless, with the introduction of the cutting-edge 320 detector CT scanning systems with fast gantry rotation the issue of the cardiac coverage is eliminated(17). The second-generation 320-row scanners also permit the quantification of the MBF with dynamic CTP acquisition with relatively low-dose of radiation(18,19). In this study the investigators aim to evaluate the feasibility, safety and accuracy of the low-radiation dose dynamic myocardial CT perfusion compared to static CTP approach to detect hemodynamically significant coronary artery disease.

Ad5FGF-4 In Patients With Refractory Angina Due to Myocardial Ischemia
AnginaStableThe purpose of this study is to determine whether a single intracoronary infusion of an adenovirus serotype 5 virus expressing the gene for human fibroblast growth factor-4 (Ad5FGF-4) is effective in improving angina-limited exercise duration, angina functional class, frequency of angina attacks, frequency of nitroglycerin usage, and quality of life. Half of the study participants will receive Ad5FGF-4, and half will receive placebo. The primary endpoint is the change from baseline to Month 6 in Exercise Tolerance Test (ETT) duration. Long-term safety of Ad5FGF-4 will also be assessed.

Trendelenburg Position for Acute Anterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke With Large Artery Atherosclerosis...
StrokeAcute IschemicThe effect of head position as a nonpharmacological therapy on acute ischemic stroke (AIS) remains inconclusive. Recent HOPES2 (Head dOwn-Position for acutE moderate ischemic Stroke with large artery atherosclerosis) suggest the safety, feasibility, and potential benefit of the head-down position (HDP) in acute ischemic stroke. The current study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of HDP in acute moderate ischemic stroke patients with large artery atherosclerosis.

SeQuent® SCB "All Comers" Post Market Clinical Follow-up (PMCF)
Coronary Artery DiseaseMyocardial IschaemiaThe aim of the study is to assess continued safety and efficacy of the SeQuent® SCB. The product under investigation will be used in routine clinical practice according to the latest European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines and according to the Instructions for Use (IFU). Those data that are obtained in routine clinical use will be documented in the Case Report Form (CRF).

OSA as a Remote Ischemic Preconditioning in Vascular Surgery
Obstructive Sleep ApneaVascular Aneurysm1 moreIschemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury during abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair is inevitable and may lead to postoperative multi-organ failure. Remote ischemic preconditioning (short periods of ischemia in anticipation of longer period of ischemia) may act protectively against ischemia. Studies of ischemic preconditioning in patients with AAA are conflicting. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disordered breathing syndrome which may have a protective effect against ischemia. The investigators hypothesize that I/R injury will be less pronounced in patients who have OSA and that the extent of I/R injury will inversely correlate with OSA severity. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to compare postoperative complications and markers of I/R in patients undergoing elective AAA repair who do and do not have OSA.

Stroke-Card Registry
Ischemic StrokeTransient Ischemic AttackStroke is the second leading cause of death and one of the main contributors to disability. Patients who survive the acute phase of ischemic stroke and those with transient ischemic attack (TIA) are at high risk of subsequent vascular events. Importantly, recurrent strokes are associated with a higher social and economic impact, higher case fatality, and worse clinical outcome than first-ever strokes. The burden of post-stroke complications, residual deficits, and inadequate medical and psychosocial care all contribute to long-term disability and reduced quality of life in these patients. The Department of Neurology of the Medical University Innsbruck undertook the STROKE-CARD trial (NCT02156778) between 2014 and 2018 with follow-up until 2019 to evaluate the efficacy of the Post-Stroke disease-management program STROKE-CARD care. After implementation of STROKE-CARD care, the investigators aim to document the quality of post-stroke care and compare outcome parameters to historical cohorts and the change over time. Furthermore the investigators aim to gain a large data-resource for future research of biomarkers, disease mechanisms, prognosis and imaging mechanisms for R&D.

Hypertonic Lactate After Cardiac Arrest
Cardiac ArrestIschemia Reperfusion Injury1 moreThe study is intended to test the hypothesis that sodium lactate infusion after resuscitation from a cardiac arrest will decrease the magnitude of brain damage, as measured by the serum biomarker concentration of NSE.

Impact of COVID-19 Vaccines on Cerebrovascular Health
StrokeStroke10 moreSafe and effective severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines may reduce the transmission of and achieve population immunity against the COVID-19 pandemic, which accounted for more than 3.75million deaths worldwide. With World Health Organization's (WHO) effort on ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, vaccination rate may increase in the near future. On the other hand, vaccination hesitancy has emerged as a major hindrance on the global vaccination campaigns in certain areas due to safety concerns, social factors, and public health policies. For instance, a recent survey conducted in Hong Kong showed a low vaccine acceptance rate of 37%. Long-term safety concerns and post-vaccination events relayed by the social media maybe reasons for vaccination hesitancy. Among which, cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) after vaccination were one of the most frequently reported post-vaccination events. These reports ranged from ischemic strokes in elderly patients with multiple cardiovascular co-morbidities, to hemorrhage strokes in otherwise "young-and-fit" adults. While many of these events were investigated by the COVID-19 immunization expert committee, an important premise to address the apprehension of CVA after vaccination is the provision of evidence-based information of the impact of COVID-19 vaccines on brain health. In this prospective, longitudinal, observational study, we aim to elucidate the relationship between COVID-19 vaccines and cerebrovascular health in healthy citizens in a population-based cohort.