Active clinical trials for "Stroke"

The purpose of this study is determine the effects of using of a combination of two drugs--integrilin (eptifibatide) and activase (recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, rt-PA, or recombinant t-PA)--to dissolve blood clots in patients who have a stroke.

Being able to walk is a major determinant of whether a patient returns home after stroke or lives in residential care. For the family, the loss of the stroke sufferer from everyday life is a catastrophic event. For the community, the costs of being unable to walk after stroke are exorbitant, involving a lifetime of residential care. Therefore, an increase in the proportion of stroke patients who regain walking ability will be a significant advance. This trial will determine, in patients early after stroke who are unable to walk, whether training walking using a treadmill with partial weight support via an overhead harness will be more effective than current intervention in (i) establishing more independent walking, reducing the time taken to achieve independent walking, and improving the quality of independent walking, and (ii) improving walking capacity and participation 6 months later.

This study will determine the dose of Retavase that can safely be combined with ReoPro in treating acute ischemic stroke (stroke resulting from a blood clot in the brain). ReoPro and Retavase are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat heart problems caused by blockage of heart arteries. The only therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat ischemic stroke is the clot buster drug rt-PA. This treatment is effective only if begun within 3 hours of onset of the stroke, however, and most patients do not get to the hospital early enough to benefit from it. Patients between 18 and 80 years of age who have had a mild or moderate acute stroke between 3 and 24 hours before starting study drugs may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood tests, rating of neurological deficits such as cognition deficits or problems walking that resulted from the stroke, and a computed tomography (CT) scan of the head. CT involves the use of specialized X-rays to obtain images of the brain. The patient lies on a table that is moved into a cylindrical machine (the scanner) for the imaging study, which usually takes about 5 to 10 minutes. All participants will receive 0.25 mg/kg of ReoPro (maximum dose of 30 mg). The drug is infused into the vein over 12 hours. Some patients will also receive one of four doses of Retavase, which may boost the effectiveness of ReoPro in opening the blocked blood vessel. Retavase is given through a needle in the vein over 2 minutes. Patients will be monitored daily until discharge from the hospital, or until day 5, whichever is earlier. Assessments will include physical examinations, blood tests to examine factors involved in blood clotting, and CT scans to evaluate both the response to treatment and drug side effects. They will return for a follow-up examination and CT scan 30 days after treatment. ...

This study will investigate the efficacy of aerobic exercise and progressive resistance training (PRT), singularly and combined, on changes in walking endurance for mildly-to-moderately affected chronic stroke patients. Specifically, we will determine the relative importance of training induced changes in muscle strength versus aerobic fitness on increases in gait velocity and 6-min walking distance, and assess the concomitant functional and psychosocial impact of increased muscle strength, aerobic fitness and improved gait. This longitudinal study will be conducted as a double blinded factorial randomized controlled trial of exercise training for chronic stroke patients.

The results of this study will provide sound, scientific evidence of physiologic mechanisms responsible for upper-extremity weakness; evidence of the processes involved in neuromuscular adaptation; and will elucidate the relationship between impairment and motor disability in post-stroke hemiparesis.

The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of microplasmin when administered intravenously to patients who have suffered an acute stroke within 12 hours before randomization.

The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of the NeuroFlo™ catheter for use in patients with ischemic stroke. The NeuroFlo device is intended to increase blood flow to the brain and potentially reduce the damage caused by stroke.

The purpose of this trial is to assess whether the blood pressure lowering agent candesartan (an angiotensin receptor type 1 blocker) is effective when given to patients with acute stroke and elevated blood pressure. Hypothesis: AT1 receptor blockade with candesartan in acute stroke will: reduce the risk of death or major disability at 6 months by a 6% absolute risk reduction, relative to placebo. reduce the risk of the combined event of "vascular" death, myocardial infarction, or stroke during the first 6 months by a 25% relative risk reduction, relative to placebo

Ischemic stroke is caused by a blood clot that blocks the flow of blood to the brain and damages brain cells. The clot, or thrombus, is made up of platelets and fibrin. The medicine alteplase, also known as tPA , is the standard drug used to treat patients with acute ischemic stroke. tPA attacks the fibrin portion of the blood clot. While intravenous (iv) tPA alone is effective in treating the fibrin part of the clot approximately 30% of the time, adding other commercially available drugs such eptifibatide to treat other clot components may improve the effectiveness of iv tPA therapy. This is a clinical trial to determine an acceptable dose of eptifibatide in combination with aspirin, the low molecular weight heparin tinzaparin, and standard iv tPA therapy for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. Use of clinical and imaging based selection criteria are hypothesized to contribute to treatment safety by selecting patients at lower risk of intracerebral hemorrhage. Also,selection and evaluation of patients by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria will result in a different risk to benefit ratio than selecting patients without MRI criteria and will lead to a different acceptable dose.

Early studies have shown that the immune system may play a role in the development of strokes. Conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and old age can activate the immune system and increase the risk of developing hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and damaged blood vessels. Researchers will attempt to characterize factors that may contribute to atherosclerosis and stroke by measuring certain components of the immune system, cytokines and leukocyte activation. Measurements will be taken from patients that are considered to be stroke prone and from patients without risk factors for the development of stroke. Researchers will measure the immune system components at the beginning of the study, at six months, and at the one-year completion of the study. The study will attempt to determine; I) If patients with risk factors for stroke have an increased activation of the immune system II) If patients with risk factors for stroke that are symptomatic have higher levels of immune system activation compared to patients who do not have symptoms III) If patients with increased activation of the immune system have accelerated hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis)