Active clinical trials for "Spinal Cord Diseases"

This study will examine the use of the humanized Mik-Beta-1 (Hu Mik-(SqrRoot) 1) monoclonal antibody in patients with HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Some patients infected with the human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) virus develop HAM/TSP, a disease in which the immune response to HTLV-1 becomes directed against the person's own body in what is called an autoimmune response. Hu-Mik-Beta-1 is a genetically engineered antibody that blocks the action of a chemical produced by the body during infection or inflammation called interleukin 15 (IL-15). Blocking IL-15 may prevent the autoimmune response that results in HAM/TSP. Patients 18 years of age and older with HAM/TSP may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood and urine tests, and an electrocardiogram. Participants undergo the following procedures: Baseline visit(s): Repeat physical examination and blood and urine tests, as well as the following: Lumbar puncture: A local anesthetic is injected to numb the skin of the lower back. A needle is inserted in the space between the bones where the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord circulates below the spinal cord. About 4 tablespoons of fluid is collected through the needle. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This test uses radio waves and magnets to produce images of body tissues and organs. The patient lies on a table that slides into a metal cylinder surrounded by a strong magnetic field. During part of the scan, a contrast agent is injected to brighten the images. Apheresis: This procedure is used to collect large quantities of white blood cells. Whole blood is collected through a needle in an arm vein and directed into a machine that separates it into its components by spinning. The white cells and plasma are removed and the rest of the blood (red cells and platelets) is returned to the body through the same needle. Hu Mik-Beta-1 treatment: Infusions of Hu Mik-Beta-1 are given through a vein every 3 weeks for nine doses. The first treatment requires at least an overnight hospital stay; subsequent infusions are given in the outpatient clinic. Blood and urine tests and a physical examination at every treatment visit and a skin test at one treatment visit. Research tests at the end of the 24-week treatment period, including lumbar puncture (spinal tap), MRI scan, and apheresis. After completing treatment, patients have three follow-up clinic visits for blood and urine tests, and a skin test at one follow-up visit.

This study randomizes neck and arm pain patients being treated with discectomy and anterior interbody fusion into two groups: one to receive a new ceramic implant and a control group with a more traditional plastic implant. The study will measure and compare pain and disability improvement with the two products over a period of two years. The fusion status will also be judged with plane x-rays and one CT scan.

The investigators have recently shown in incomplete SCI patients that long-term paired associative stimulation is capable of restoring voluntary control over some paralyzed muscles and enhancing motor output in the weak muscles (1). In this study, the investigators will administer long-term paired associative stimulation to patients with incomplete SCI of non-traumatic origin.

This is a multi-center, prospective, blinded, pilot feasibility study to evaluate improvement in sensory and motor function with sham.

To determine whether the use of two antiviral agents in combination will be better than placebo in the treatment of an inflammatory sidease of the spinal cord caused by HTLV-I

The purpose of this study is to determine whether testosterone plus finasteride treatment will improve musculoskeletal health, neuromuscular function, body composition, and metabolic health in hypogonadal men who have experienced ambulatory dysfunction subsequent to incomplete spinal cord injury. The investigators hypothesize that this treatment will improve bone mineral density, enhance muscle size and muscle function, and improve body composition, without causing prostate enlargement.

The purpose of this study is to look at the safety (what are the side effects) and efficacy (how well does it work) of Gadavist when used for taking images of the brain and spine. The results of the MRI with Gadavist Injection will be compared to the results of MR images taken without contrast and with the results of the MR images taken with OptiMARK.

This study will evaluate the efficacy of a newly developed serious game, SCI HARD, to enhance self-management skills, self-reported health behaviors, and quality of life among adolescents and young adults with spinal cord injury and disease (SCI/D). SCI HARD was designed by the project PI, Dr. Meade, in collaboration with the UM3D (University of Michigan three dimensional) Lab between 2010 and 2013 with funding from a NIDRR (National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research) Field Initiated Development Grant to assist persons with SCI develop and apply the necessary skills to keep their bodies healthy while managing the many aspects of SCI care. The study makes a unique contribution to rehabilitation by emphasizing the concepts of personal responsibility and control over one's health and life as a whole. By selecting an innovative approach for program implementation, we also attempt to address the high cost of care delivery and lack of health care access to underserved populations with SCI/D living across the United States (US). H1: SCI Hard participants will show greater improvements in problem solving skills, healthy attitudes about disability, and SCI Self-efficacy than will control group members; these improvements will be sustained over time within and between groups. H2: SCI Hard participants will endorse more positive health behaviors than control group members; these improvements will be sustained over time within and between groups. H3: SCI Hard participants will have higher levels of QOL than control group members; these differences will be sustained over time within and between groups. H4: Among SCI Hard participants, dosage of game play will be related to degree of change in self-management skills, health behaviors and QOL.

The spinal cord is a common site for the development of several neurodegenerative neurological disorders (spinal muscular atrophy or SMA, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, X-linked spinal bulbar muscular atrophy or SBMA). In different proportions, these diseases involve axonal loss in large funiculi of the spinal white matter, their demyelination, and loss of ventral horn motor neurons or motoneurones of the spinal gray matter. The lack of specific biomarkers of these macro and microscopic spinal damages, makes it difficult the differential diagnosis and monitoring of these diseases. Techniques to explore non-invasively the human central nervous system, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiology, are potential tools to extract specific biomarkers of spinal damages. However, imaging techniques are still poorly developed at spinal level for technical (specific antennas), anatomical (size of the spinal cord, vertebrae) and physiological reasons (cardio-respiratory movements). However, recent advances in the field of spinal cord imaging allowed to extract quantitative data on neuron loss, axonal degeneration and demyelination in different spinal pathologies whether degenerative (ALS or SMA) or traumatic (SCI). Correlations were found with clinical data, and in ALS patients, the changes in MRI metrics over time paralleled the functional deterioration. The electrophysiological techniques are used since a long time, leading to a good knowledge of the neurophysiology of human spinal cord. In addition, electrophysiology indirectly provides data at a microscopic scale, providing information on the excitability of spinal neural networks and giving an estimate of the amount of functional neurons. By combining these techniques for the investigation of human spinal cord in vivo, the goal is to extract new biomarkers using as study models, diseases of the spinal cord affecting differentially the white and the gray matter (SMA, SBMA and ALS). At first, new methods of diffusion MRI and modelling will be performed in healthy subjects to assess the axonal density and diameter of the fibers in the white matter. The anatomical imaging T2 will measure the geometrical parameters of the spinal cord such as its surface and/or volume at a given vertebral level. Thanks to imaging, we will construct via methods of segmentation and image processing, an atlas of the spinal cord that will allow to locate spatially spinal atrophy in patients. After this phase of validation, A study of patients will be conducted using these new MRI techniques, in addition to those already developed in the laboratory. The contribution of electrophysiology will be to assess more accurately the microscopic damage. Quantitative data from imaging and electrophysiology will be correlated with clinical data in order to extract the most relevant biomarkers. This project has thus a methodological interest by proposing the development of new methods to assess the human spinal cord, at both macro and microscopic levels. These methods are based on the development of the techniques developed at spinal level and which are already applicable to human pathologies. The original combination of imaging and electrophysiology will also enable us to further analyze the human spinal cord, both anatomically and functionally. This project has an important clinical value for the extraction of biomarkers in diseases where there is an unmet need for diagnosis, monitoring, prognosis and evaluation of new therapies.

The purpose of this study is to determine what effect intraoperative topical steroids have on reducing swallowing difficulty following Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion surgery.