Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

The aim of SWEAT² study is to further explore the effects of additional customized trunk exercises on clinical and biomechanical gait performance. Despite of the evidence demonstrating the importance of trunk control after stroke, studies about the effects of trunk rehabilitation on gait performance are inconsistent. The findings of this study might lead to new scientific insights in the importance of the trunk during gait rehabilitation in people suffering from stroke submitted to a rehabilitation hospital.

On-going rehabilitation is needed to maintain and improve the weaker upper extremity following stroke. Community rehabilitation programs for stroke individuals in the chronic stage are often difficult to be implement. Consequently, many individuals remain without structured interventional programs. Self-training programs, where individuals can independently continue to exercise at home, might answer this challenge. However, since exercising alone is boring and not motivating, individuals often stop the prescribed exercises and remain inactive. The use of video-games for self-training might answer this challenge. Therefore, the investigators aimed to assess the feasibility of using video-games for self-training after stroke. Specifically the investigators aim to compare the (1) training time, (2) satisfaction and (3) effectiveness of a self-training program using video-games compared to a traditional self-training program.

There are some treatments after Stroke. Among these, use forced therapy (FUT), which is based on overcoming learned disuse by reintroduction of the paretic upper limb in the performance of daily activities. There are different protocols FUT to the daily time constraint, the number of days and even the type of constriction. Researchers have developed a protocol using four weeks constriction, daily constriction 24 hours and with the free end of the weekends. Because it is a restrictive therapy, which requires the use of one of the arms and on the other hand, this mode of treatment is open to criticism, however, despite the efficacy of the protocol, patients do not have good adhesion to the protocol for the constriction severe over time. The objective of this work is to verify the safety of the developed protocol and analyze the feasibility of reducing the daily time of constriction 12 hours, with a new protocol movement constriction, easier to perform and more patient acceptance. Participate in this study 82 individuals hemiparetic post Stroke, which will be recruited to Neurovascular Diseases Clinic and will be registered at the Rehabilitation Center of Integrated State Hospital. Participants will be randomly divided into three groups: the FUT24 (non-paretic upper limb constriction 24 hours a day, five days a week for 4 weeks), the FUT 12 (non-paretic upper limb constriction for 12 hours a day, five days a week for 4 weeks) and CK (Classic Kinesiotherapy, at least 2 times a week for 4 weeks). Will be held weekly and after the end of the monthly monitoring reviews protocols. For the rating scales are use: National Institute of Health Stroke Scale, the Ashworth Scale, the Wolf Motor Function Test, the Motor Activity Log, Fugl-Meyer Assesment, dynamometry handgrip and surface electromyography (flexor and extensor muscles wrist). The researchers hope that this protocol does not bring damage to the upper limb in constriction and it is established a new protocol FUT easier to perform and more acceptable to patients, allowing the use of this technique by health professionals.

Background: Our prior work with combination argatroban + recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) (ARTSS-1: Phase IIa low-dose safety study; n=65 and ARTSS-2: Phase IIb randomized low and high-dose study; n=90), demonstrated safety of the two drugs when delivered concomitantly and recanalization rates were greater than with historical controls. Further, interim analysis of neurological outcomes at 75 patients of the randomized Phase IIb trial, demonstrated a signal of efficacy when compared to control (rt-PA alone) patients. However, rt-PA fails to reperfuse brain in most patients with large thrombi, prompting several recent randomized clinical trials which have demonstrated that intra-arterial therapy (IA) following rt-PA substantially improves outcome in patients with distal carotid or proximal middle cerebral artery occlusions. As a result, rt-PA + IA has become the new standard-of-care for many patients with large arterial occlusions such as those treated in ARTSS-1 and 2. Therefore, this study is necessary to explore the feasibility and safety of adding Argatroban in acute ischemic stroke patients who also receive rt-PA followed by IA. Primary Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility and safety of treating stroke patients with Argatroban who undergo usual thrombolysis care (intravenous rt-PA followed by IA). Secondary Objectives: Assess rates of ultra-early recanalization at commencement of IA; Assess the completeness and pattern of reperfusion as obtained by IA; 3) Assess clinical outcome

Emerging studies have shown that statin treatment has pleiotropic non-cholesterol-dependent effects in the setting of ischemic stroke. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is the only proven effective pharmaceutical treatment for hyper-acute management of ischemic stroke, in spite of the deleterious side-effects such as hemorrhagic transformation and reperfusion injury. These harmful impacts can be counteracted with proper neuro-protective therapy. In fact, the simultaneous use of an effective neuro-protective agent was proved to reduce the comorbid vascular injury of rt-PA. In experimental research, high dose of atorvastatin combined with rt-PA can significantly reduce infarct volume and improve the neurologic deficits. Previous studies showed that fewer than 40% ischemic stroke patients established early reperfusion after intravenous thrombolysis, while high dose of atorvastatin was revealed to favor the maintenance of cerebral vascular patency and integrity, most likely by reducing thrombosis secondary to rt-PA administration. Moreover, it was suggested that statin can sufficiently improve the restoration and remodeling of neurovascular unit in cerebral cortex. Investigators thus design this study to prospectively investigate whether high dose of atorvastatin prescribed within 24 hours after IV-thrombolysis will have a synergic effect to improve neurological outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients. Moreover, investigators deemed it necessary to non-invasively monitor neuronal and vascular morphological changes in brain as an indication of functional improvement. In the investigation centers, investigators have developed and implemented novel multimodality MR imaging which can dynamically monitor neurovascular remodeling. Therefore, it is worthwhile to evaluate these MRI measurements for early prediction of neurovascular reorganization with long term functional recovery in thrombolytic stroke patients administrated with high dose of atorvastatin. The primary target of this study is to prospectively investigate whether high dose of atorvastatin (80mg) administrated within 24 hours after IV-thrombolysis will have a synergic effect to improve neurological outcome in acute stroke patients, versus moderate dose.

Emerging research suggests the use of self-regulation (SR) strategies at improving functional regain in patients with brain injury. SR is proposed to produce an added effect to the effective constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT). This study aimed to examine the efficacy of a self-regulated CIMT program (SR-CIMT) for function regain of patients with subacute stroke. It was hypothesized that participants receiving the combined treatment (SR and CIMT) would have a better functional regain.

Currently the process for stroke recovery is slow with majority of its treatments focused around physical therapy. Among the many methods employed to facilitate recovery in stroke, the use of motor imagery (MI) training may be beneficial towards stroke rehabilitation. In the current study, we propose 2 aims. Our first aim is to determine the feasibility and efficacy of a novel brain-computer interface-assisted MI train program (BCI-MI) in patients with chronic ischemic stroke. This is designed as a proof-of-concept study that only require a single-session trial. If patients successfully activate the BCI-MI system without much difficulty, our second aim is to enroll patients into a 4-week training program using the BCI-MI. Both functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be done to determine the effects of the 4-week training program. Subjects may potentially see improvements in walking gait as preliminary data from previous studies have demonstrated positive results.

The study objective is to examine the recanalization efficacy of the EmboTrap device and its associated performance characteristics and to record associated clinical outcomes in a manner that facilitates relevant comparison of outputs with that of devices approved in the U.S. for clearing Large Vessel Occlusions.

The proposed study aims to evaluate safety and efficacy of combined dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with melodic intonation therapy (MIT) for treatment of aphasia after stroke. The target population is patients with chronic speech deficits due to a left hemisphere non-hemorrhagic stroke. Findings from this proposed project will help in the design of future larger studies.The safety phase will use cross-over, placebo controlled and single-blinded design. 10 participants with post stroke chronic non-fluent aphasia will undergo two experiments. To study the safety and effect of combined dextroamphetamine, tDCS and MIT therapy the study will use a parallel-groups, randomized, sham and placebo controlled, and double-blinded design in which 48 participants with post stroke chronic non-fluent aphasia will be randomly assigned to receive either 1) dextroamphetamine therapy with active stimulation, 2) placebo medication with active stimulation, 3) dextroamphetamine therapy with sham stimulation or 4) placebo medication with sham stimulation for the same duration.

The primary objective of the study is to assess the clinical effects of natalizumab versus placebo in acute ischemic stroke on clinical measures of functional independence and activities of daily living. The secondary objective of the study is to explore dose and exposure response and the clinical treatment effects of natalizumab versus placebo in acute ischemic stroke on the following: measures of independence, activities of daily living, neurologic function, quality of life, cognition, and safety and tolerability