Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

Approximately 30% of people with stroke experience symptoms of depression. Many may benefit from access to mental health services that target unhelpful thoughts, such as cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), but go untreated due to lack of access to specialized care, costs, remote location, or stigma related to seeking care. Internet Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (ICBT) may overcome these barriers. The stroke ICBT program teaches skills such as challenging unhelpful thoughts, memory and attention, managing related physical symptoms, and pacing through a mix of online learning and weekly contact with a trained Guide. While the program's content was found to be acceptable among individuals after stroke, the program's effectiveness still needs to be evaluated. Thus, the primary purpose of this study is to evaluate if the stroke ICBT program will improve symptoms of depression compared to an attention control group. Individuals in both groups will answer questions about themselves and their injury and describe symptoms of depression, quality of life, and health service use to evaluate its impact on people's wellbeing. The study results will be useful in determining if the ICBT program is effective and whether it should be part of routine clinical practice.

This study explores the value of the non-invasive quantitative evaluation system for cerebral blood flow perfusion function in the diagnosis of stroke. Compared with traditional perfusion techniques, multi-delay arterial spin labeling (ASL) is validated to determine the accuracy of perfusion level, ischemic penumbra and other indexes in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The relationship between perfusion levels of mD-ASL parameters and clinical outcome is also studied.

In a prospective, quantitative explorative study, the risk of aspiration and penetration when swallowing solid pills (placebo) compared to a crushed placebo pill will be evaluated during a routine Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES). The study design is thus a quasi-experimental study design with repeated measurements in the sense of a pre-posttest. Each patient undergoes a baseline examination (routine procedure) followed by the intervention (administration of three different solid pills and a crushed pill).

Recent studies have shown that completing bilateral simultaneous movements during upper extremity practice may result in facilitation of coactivation and interhemispheric activation of both the ipsilesional and contralesional brain areas, with one limb entraining the other and enabling the limbs to function as a unit. Other research has proposed that the use of virtual-reality (VR) activities during treatment sessions can improve upper extremity function following stroke as it is motivating, challenging, offers external feedback that may facilitate motor learning, and allows for the "high-intensity, repetitious practice necessary to drive recovery". Coupling bilateral simultaneous upper extremity movement and virtual-reality activities is the Bimanual Arm Trainer (BAT), a non-powered mechanical device by which the non-paretic upper extremity moves the paretic arm. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the Bimanual Arm Trainer (BAT) compared to traditional occupational therapy treatment sessions as these relate to upper extremity functional return following stroke, as measured by scores on the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer Assessment (UE-FMA) measures. The investigators plan to use retrospective data for a pre-implementation group, comparing this data to prospectively collected post-implementation data. ARAT scores are routinely collected and will be used for comparison between groups. UE-FMA measures are commonly used in this area of research, and will be taken to provide additional context for the post-implementation group.

Vagal Nerve Stimulation is a novel proven therapy for patients with chronic ischemic stroke. The primary objective of this registry is to assess the safety of vagal nerve stimulation for stroke recovery through monitoring the occurrence of serious adverse events associated with the surgical procedure or subsequent paired rehabilitation protocol. This registry will monitor patients undergoing VNS for stroke recovery in the Mount Sinai Health System and collect clinical and procedural details, objective outcomes, and patient-reported outcomes associated with vagal nerve stimulation for stroke recovery.

Comparative Efficacy of Different Time Interval between rTMS and Rehabilitation Program for Motor Recovery in Stroke Patients

The purpose of the research is to understand structural plaque abnormalities that make a carotid plaque unstable and brake off (embolize) which would help to predict and treat individuals who are likely to suffer not only classic episodic major strokes but also cognitive impairment.

The purpose of this study is to find risk factors for hemorrhagic stroke.

The aim of this prospective, monocentric, non-randomized trial is to investigate the impact of catheter ablation of atrial tachyarrhythmias on the ABC-stroke and ABC-bleeding risk scores. Participants planned for first catheter ablation for symptomatic atrial tachyarrrhythmias (atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter) will be enrolled. Serial blood samples will be collected before and 3, 6 and 12 months after catheter ablation to calculate the ABC scores as well as the traditional bleeding and stroke risks. Following catheter ablation, continuous rhythm monitoring will be achieved using an insertable monitor or an implanted atrial lead of a cardiac implantable electronic device. Additionally, heart rate monitoring via photoplethysmography using a smartwatch and/or smartphone is performed for a period of six months. Data are analyzed for differences in ABC scores before and after ablation in relation to possible AF/AT recurrences. Furthermore, we are going to compare the sensitivity and specificity of different follow-up modalities post ablation. The monitoring via ICM (gold standard) is compared to smartwatch-based monitoring alone, versus smartphone-based monitoring alone or a combination of both for AT/AF recurrences.

The subacute phase of stroke provides a window into how a lesion perturbs sensorimotor functions prior to reorganisation driven by plasticity and neurorehabilitation. The recovery from motor impairment has been extensively studied, but it is currently unknown whether motor skill learning (MSkL) is enhanced or impaired during acute stroke, especially bimanual motor skill learning (bim-MSkL), which likely requires more motor-attentional-cognitive resources than unimanual MSkL. The goals of this project are: to determine the neural substrates critical to achieve proximal and distal bimanual motor skill learning (bim-MSkL) by specifying whether (sub)acute stroke to different brain areas (cortical and subcortical) induce specific deficits in bimanual and/or distal bim-MSkL, which behavioral components are involved in bim-MSkL, and whether damage to the motor, sensory and inter-hemispheric pathways specifically impairs proximal and/or distal bim-MSkL.