Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries, Traumatic"

The primary objective is to assess the long-term impact of hormonal deficiency on Quality of Life (QoL) in a large group of moderate and severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) patients.

Background: - Previous studies have shown that computer-based devices that simulate everyday tasks can be helpful for evaluation and rehabilitation in people who have had strokes. Researchers are interested in studying whether similar devices can be used to evaluate and treat individuals who have had a traumatic brain injury, to determine if the device should be developed to help with rehabilitation in the future. Objectives: - To evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-based simulation compared with actual performance of actions in individuals who have had a traumatic brain injury. Eligibility: - Individuals at least 18 years of age who have had a non-penetrating mild or moderate traumatic head injury within the past year and have experience playing computer games. Design: Participants will be screened with a physical and neurological examination and medical history. Participants will complete questionnaires and an interview about mood and feelings, stress levels, quality of life, and how well they function at work or at home. Participants will also have tests of memory, attention, thinking, and reasoning. Some of the questionnaires and tests will be completed in writing, some orally, and some on a computer. Participants will have movement and coordination tests that involve simple tasks such as putting pegs in a pegboard, using a key, lifting different objects, and folding things. Participants will duplicate the movement and coordination tests by using a computer program that simulates the tasks with a cursor on a computer screen. Participants will do four separate simulated tasks (such as arranging letters or hitting a nail with a hammer) three times. The full visit will take about 4 hours, and no followup visits are required.

To learn more about behavior and everyday functioning after brain injury, and to learn if behavior and functioning gets better with more education about changes after brain injury.

Excitatory amino acids may be involved in secondary neuronal damage after traumatic brain injury. The amount of microglia activation is an indirect measure of neuronal damage. Micorglia activation will be measured R)-[11C]PK11195 PET 1 week, 1 month and 6 months after brain injury.

The development of pneumonia and other infections is one of the most common complications of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Prior studies have also found that patients suffering from TBI also develop immune dysfunction consistent with an immunosuppressed state shortly after the traumatic event. Specifically, it has been shown that patients with a TBI have impaired delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH), cellular immunity and humoral immunity. The humoral arm of the immune system is particularly involved in defending the host against extracellular bacteria and is primarily composed of B-cells, immunoglobulins and complement. Surgery and trauma impair the clonal expansion of antibody producing B lymphocytes causing hypogammaglobulinemia, through a mechanism involving T lymphocytes. In addition, during the systemic inflammatory process, pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 1 (IL-1beta) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) are released. Nuclear factor kappa beta (NF-kB) is a transcriptional regulatory protein that is involved in the expression of proinflammatory cytokines and appears to act at a critical step in the transcription of many proinflammatory genes. The hypothesis of this study is that the hypogammaglobulinemia from the immune dysfunction and the induction of NF-kB from the inflammatory process are, in part, responsible for the development of pneumonia and other infectious complications identified after TBI. This study has two specific aims: The primary specific aim of this study is to determine the association between serum immunoglobulin or NF-kB levels and the development of pneumonia in patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). The secondary specific aim of this study is to determine the relative contribution of clinical variables such as APACHE II-III Score and Injury Severity Score as compared to immunological variables (serum immunoglobulins and NF-kB) to the development of pneumonia in patients suffering from TBI.

The purpose of this project is to determine the effects of mild traumatic brain injury and blast exposure on the inner ear balance and central nervous systems.

This study performs assessments of pituitary functions by basal hormone levels in the acute phase after TBI and/or SAH followed by detailed endocrine tests (insulin-induced hypoglycemia or growth hormone releasing hormone-arginine-corticotropin releasing hormone-leuteinizing hormone releasing hormone [GHRH-arginine-CRH-LHRH] test) after 4 and 12 months.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a health issue impacting athletes and no clinical treatment protocol, other than rest, is yet established. The efficacy of a treatment protocol relies on objective, physiological measures of brain function and ultimately a quantification of injury severity. The present study aims to assess neurophysiological markers of auditory and visual measures of brain function using the NeuroCatch Platform and eye-tracking technology, respectively. The current gold standard of TBI evaluation, including cognitive and balance assessments, will also be captured.

The objective of this study is to show that the measurement of auditory and vibro-tactile evoked potentials, or the recording of the EEG signal during a motor imaging task, can be used in routine clinical situations to explore the state of consciousness of subjects in Non-responsive Awakening (or Chronic Vegetative State) or in Minimal Consciousness (or relational state) after a severe brain injury. Assumptions : Correlation between patient response rates obtained with the brain-machine interface and their clinical consciousness score (Coma Recovery Scale Revised score) Differentiation of the parameters of the evoked potentials P300 between patients in a vegetative state and those in a state of minimal consciousness

A better understanding of the injury patterns, injury severity, risk profiles, consequences and impact of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in the elderly population is necessary due to the increasing incidence and prevalence of TBI in this population and its high economic impact on society. Therefore, this study aims at describing the long-term consequences of TBI. In order to achieve that goal, injury patterns, injury severity and risk profiles for TBI in the elderly will be mapped. Moreover, a retrospective assessment of brain damage, co-morbidities and post-traumatic history, and a prospective assessment of cognitive functions and quality of life in a 20 years range after TBI will be performed. Finally, a statistical correlation of TBI and different types of neurodegenerative diseases, and an economic costs analysis will be done. All the obtained results will be used to develop a new prognostic tool for the course of the outcomes of TBI in the elderly population.