Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

Introduction. There is a demand for evidence whether treadmill therapy is more efficient than traditional walking training as an intervention for patients with hemiplegia after cerebral stroke. Design. A randomized controlled trial. Material. Stroke patients with moderate to severe functional deficits referred to inpatient medical rehabilitation. Method. Comparing a treatment group receiving treadmill training with body weight support with a treatment group receiving conventional walking training. Study aim: Investigate whether treadmill therapy is more effective than traditional functional training in restoring walking and transfer in patients with moderate to severe ambulatory deficits after stroke.

The purpose of the study is to determine whether desmoteplase is effective and safe in the treatment of patients with acute ischaemic stroke when given within 3-9 hours from onset of stroke symptoms.

The purpose of the current study is to evaluate motor and neglect recovery of stroke patients produced by CIT using kinematic and oculomotor assessment, together with conventional clinical measures.

To assess the safety and feasibility of using the NeuroFlo catheter to treat acute ischemic stroke patients following administration of intravenous tPA.

The aim of this study is to assess the effect of the drug rotigotine on the syndrome of hemispatial neglect and motor deficits following strokes affecting the right hemisphere of the brain.

People with stroke experience weakness and incoordination. Studies have shown that with functional task practice, people can increase motor control and strength to a certain extent. This study will investigate whether adding progressive resistance strength training to functional task practice modeled after Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy results in greater motor function gains than functional task practice alone

Objective: To investigate effects of home-based somatosensory stimulation associated with motor training on improvement in performance of the paretic upper extremity in patients in the chronic phase after stroke.

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Unfortunately, there are few therapies that have been proven to improve stroke outcome. Sleep apnea is an emerging stroke risk factor and has a well established association with higher mortality and poor functional outcome following stroke. Over half of acute stroke patients have sleep apnea, suggesting that it may be a important target for therapy. Attenuation of sleep apnea severity may result in improved stroke outcomes. However, the standard treatment for sleep apnea is not well-tolerated among stroke patients. An alternative treatment is avoidance of supine sleep. Supine sleep is very common in acute stroke patients, and therefore this treatment may have particular relevance to the stroke population. The proposed study will be conducted in two phases. The first phase is a randomized, crossover design in which acute stroke patients will be given positional treatment (to avoid supine sleep) on one night during their stroke hospitalization. This will be compared with another night of sleeping without positional therapy. The order of treatments (standard vs positional therapy) will be random. The first phase will demonstrate the proof of concept: that stroke patients given positional therapy to avoid supine sleep will (1) sleep less on their backs, and (2) will have improved sleep apnea parameters with positional therapy. In the second phase, those identified to have sleep apnea will be randomized to receive positional therapy at home for three months, or standard therapy. This second phase will demonstrate the adherence/feasibility of three months of positional therapy, and will allow us to estimate effect size based on a functional outcome measure. The data obtained from this pilot clinical trial are essential to plan a large efficacy study.

Iron overload has been associated with greater brain injury in ischemia/reperfusion experimental stroke models and ischemic stroke patients, especially in those treated with thrombolytic treatment. Deferoxamine administration, an iron chelator, offers a neuroprotective action in ischemia/reperfusion animal models. Primary objective: To evaluate the security and tolerability of deferoxamine endovenous treatment in acute ischemic stroke patients treated with iv. tPA. Secondary objectives: To study pharmacokinetics of deferoxamine given by endovenous bolus (10 mg/Kg) followed by 72-hour continuous intravenous infusion (20, 40 o 60 mg/Kg). To evaluate the deferoxamine effect in clinical outcome, infarct volume and hemorrhagic transformation and brain edema development. Methodology: Double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled, dose-finding phase II clinical trial. Study stages: 1st: bolus+20 mg/Kg/day vs. Placebo (n=15:5); 2nd: bolus+40 mg/Kg/day vs. Placebo (n=15:5); 3rd: bolus+60 mg/Kg/day vs placebo (n=15:5). These doses will be increased according to security results of the previous stage. Patients will be continuously monitored in stroke units. Laboratory parameters will be measured at baseline, 24h, 72h and 30 days to evaluate adverse events related to the drug. Serum deferoxamine and feroxamine concentrations will be measured along time after the injection in a subgroup of patients to the pharmacokinetics study. CT scan will be performed at 24-36h to assess hemorrhagic transformation and brain edema. The NIH Stroke Scale will be evaluated during hospitalization, and the Rankin score at discharge and 3 months. If deferoxamine demonstrate to be secure and well tolerated treatment in acute stroke patients, it may be a new therapy option to lower the brain injury after ischemia and reperfusion.

This study will determine the effectiveness of a specialized psychotherapy for treating elderly stroke survivors who are depressed.