Active clinical trials for "Paraplegia"

To identify means to improve exercise performance in participants with tetraplegia.

This study evaluates the feasibility and effects of H-MEX powered exoskeleton in individuals with paraplegia as a result of spinal cord injury.

The purpose of this study is to use functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate brain activation and white matter changes in patients with congenital (birth defect of the spinal column), acute and chronic complete spinal cord lesions. The findings of this study may provide a basis to better understand the pathomechanisms underlying the dynamic neurofunctional changes following a spinal cord lesions in man. This understanding is important for the improvement of existing therapies and for the development of new therapeutic approaches.

This study will use a magnetic resonance imaging technique called nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (H-MRS) to define the pathology and progression of primary lateral sclerosis, hereditary spastic paraplegia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and assess the usefulness of this technique in evaluating patients' response to therapy. H-MRS will be used to examine metabolic changes in the parts of the brain and spinal cord (motor cortex and corticospinal tract) involved in movement. Normal volunteers and patients with primary lateral sclerosis, hereditary spastic paraplegia or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis between 21 and 65 years of age may be eligible for this study. Participants will have up to five H-MRS studies, including baseline and follow-up tests. For this procedure, the subject lies on a stretcher that is moved into a strong magnetic field. Earplugs are worn to muffle the loud knocking noise that occurs during switching of radio frequencies. The subject will be asked to lie still during each scan, for 1 to 8 minutes at a time. Total scanning time varies from 20 minutes to 2 hours, with most examinations lasting between 45 and 90 minutes. Communication with the medical staff is possible at all times during the scan.

The autosomal dominant spinocerebellar degenerations are a highly heterogeneous, clinically and genetically, group of rare diseases and of severe evolution. So far, the responsible genes for less than 50% of the cases are known and because of their rarity, there are no phenotype-genotype correlations and well-defined disease history. The aims of the project are to develop and validate quantitative tools of the cerebellar syndrome and of the spasticity, to establish links between the phenotype and the result of the molecular analysis, to identify new loci/genes responsible for these disorders, and to establish the natural history of the disease according to the genotype. To this end, a prospective and multicentric study is proposed for recruiting and evaluating, clinically, a cohort of 225 patients; 150 of them are already followed-up in the centers involved. A DNA collection will be set up in order to search for the implication of new loci and genes. A clinico-genetic database will be set up combining data from successive clinical evaluations and those of genotyping. This strategy will allow access to genetic counselling and molecular diagnosis (positive, presymptomatic or prenatal diagnoses), based on a rational strategy from phenotype-genotype correlations and the information concerning the relative frequency of the genes. The detailed description, with the help of new evaluation tools and of the follow-up of the natural history of the disease according to the genotype, constitutes a crucial step in the design of therapeutical trials in these orphan disorders. Furthermore, the regular follow-up by specialized centers will allow better care of the patients.

Power assisted wheelchairs have specific advantages compared to manual propelled or powered Wheelchair. Autonomad Mobility has developed a new device (DUO), the assistance being triggered by the motion of the wheelchair and not an push on the hand rim, people who use their foot to move or people pushing the wheelchair can be helped by the device as people propelling the wheelchair with their arms. Furthermore DUO has an option with a longer assistance (AEP+) which can be preferred by some people. To be referenced and reimbursed by the French health insurance, DUO has to be compared with an other power assistance device for wheelchairs, already referenced. The study is a comparative study between DUO and the ALBER E Motion. Each patient is his own control and is assessed in 4 experimental conditions, with intervals of 3 or 4 days, manually propelled, with the E mtion device, with the DUO device and the single push configuration, with the DUO device and the AEP+ configuration. The main outcome measure will be the user's satisfaction (using 8 items of the ESAT questionnaire)

A high physical fitness is crucial for a good quality of life in persons suffering from a spinal cord injury. The aim of the present observational study is to investigate the influence of an individually tailored 8-week endurance training program on endurance performance of patients with a paraplegia during their first rehabilitation.

Over the past ten years, the Cardiovascular Research Laboratory at Spaulding has refined a unique form of exercise for those with spinal cord injuries (SCI). Functional Electrical Stimulation Row Training (FESRT) couples volitional arm and electrically controlled leg exercise, resulting in the benefits of large muscle mass exercise. Despite the success of the FES-rowing Program at Spaulding, FES-rowing systems have not yet evolved beyond research prototypes, and ours is the only program in the US where FES-rowing is available. A new design is critically needed to enable people with paralysis to participate in FES rowing in their own homes, which we believe will maximize both the health and commercial impacts of FES-rowing.

Currently, those with spinal cord injury (SCI) demonstrate increased prevalence of obesity (75%) cardiovascular disease (30 - 50%), type II diabetes (21%) and osteoporosis in the legs (100%) when compared to the general population. It is important to identify the modes and intensities of exercise most likely to generate a reduction in these inactivity-related diseases in this population. Therefore, the main purpose of this pilot research project is to implement and test a form of a spinal cord injury-specific exercise, known as FES rowing (FES: functional electrical stimulation).

Patients and families are invited to participate in an online registry and data repository specifically for patients with transverse myelitis (TM) or acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). The data generated in this study will come from surveys, interviews, review of medical records. Data from this study will be utilized to guide future clinical trials for children with an acute case of TM or AFM. Parents and school aged children will complete an online survey 7 banks of questions. Each bundle of survey topics have 7-10 questions. We will have both the parent and child complete a outcomes based survey within 6 months of diagnosis and invite to participate every 4 months until study end in 2024.