Active clinical trials for "Brain Injuries, Traumatic"

The investigators will obtain thromboelastography (TEG) on pediatric patients admitted to the Rady Children's Hospital ICU after traumatic brain injury on admission to our ICU and after 24 hours of care. The investigators hypothesize that TEG will identify abnormalities of coagulation that are not identified by traditional coagulation studies, i.e. prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and international normalized ratio (INR).

The purpose of this study is to learn if a new brain imaging technology called DaTscan can detect subtle changes in the brain that are similar to those seen in early Parkinson's disease (PD). The results of this study may provide more information about a possible association between mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and PD. The objectives of this study are to define and describe a group of approximately 7,122 mTBI subjects and 7,122 subjects without mTBI (mTBI-) seen in the Emergency Rooms of NorthShore University HealthSystem during the years 2006-2011, and to select from willing eligible subjects a random sample of 100 mTBI subjects and 100 mTBI- subjects (of the same age and gender) to undergo written informed consent, neurological examinations, blood drawing for DNA extraction and storage, and DaTscan brain imaging. The investigators will compare the findings from persons who experienced mTBI (cases) to persons without a history of brain injury (mTBI- or "controls").

We hypothesize that newly developped NIRS sensor (EQUANOX Advance™, 8004CA, NONIN Medical, USA)is able to detect ischemic events recorded by brain tissue oxygen probe (Licox, Integra Neurosciences, USA) and that values are correlated.

An observational study to assess the BIS reported level of sedation of patients with traumatic brain injury in the ICU.

Alzheimer's disease, stroke and TBI are frequently observed brain disorders, causing significant morbidity. For none of these disorders, there are in vivo diagnostic biomarkers available that allow determination of disease burden, patient-specific prognosis and therapy follow-up. However, they all share a similar mechanism that may cause accumulation of tau oligomers in the brain, synaptic dysfunction and cognitive and/or behavioral impairment. Until recently, the only way to quantify synaptic density and tau deposition was using post-mortem immunohistochemistry. Now, in vivo Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging of synaptic density has become possible trough development of 11C-UCB-J, a levetiracetam-based radioligand, expressing high affinity and specificity for SV2A. Furthermore, the novel radioligand 18F-MK-6240, specifically targeting tau deposits, was clinically implemented in our center. Through PET-MR, we can visualize the cascade of tau deposition, synaptic loss and degeneration of grey and white matter and relate these pathologic features to cognitive and behavioral deterioration. The goal of the study is to: 1) measure tau deposition and loss of synaptic density in these conditions as a potential measure for disease load 2) determination of the mid-term (2 years) monitoring capacity of combined functional-structural PET-MR imaging 3) relate progression of the imaging markers to cognitive and/or behavioral decline and 4) determination of the optimal combination of PET-MR metrics for early identification and risk-stratification of cognitive and/or behavioral dysfunction in de novo patients.

The primary goal of this study is to provide clinicians with a brief, patient self-administer instrument yielding a single composite score that reliably correlates with objective findings on standardized neurocognitive assessment for concussion.

This longitudinal cohort study aims to detect the topographical nature of the white matter microstructure and resting state functional connectivity patterns across the whole brain in the evolution of pathology as a function of time following mild TBI. All consecutively patients with the non-contrast head CT because of acute head trauma from the local emergency department (ED) formed the initial population of this study. Age, sex, education-level matched healthy controls will also be enrolled. The initial scan will performed within 7 days post-injury. Clinical assessment was performed within 24 hours of MR imaging and included a broad neuropsychological and symptom assessments. Follow-up examination will conduct at 1 month, 3 month, 6-12 months.

This study aimed to characterize swallowing disorders in minimally consciousness patients after brain traumatic injury.

The purpose of this study is to assess cognitive function using a rapid, portable, computerized neurocognitive testing device in a wide variety of clinical settings.

The PreTBI II study aims to investigate the diagnostic potential of prehospital S100B and GFAP measurements in prediction of need for neurosurgical observation and/or intervention in moderate TBI patients, to rule-in high-risk patients. Ultimately to select patients who will benefit from neuro surgical expertise in specialized departments and thereby possibly better patient outcome. Hopefully also minimize treatment delay, secure optimal resource consumption and streamline patient courses by predicting the presence of neurotrauma. Hypotheses: A prehospital serum S100B level > 0,10 microgram/L and expectedly above a certain and currently unknown cut-off value indicates the need for neurosurgical observation and/or intervention in moderate TBI patients. A prehospital serum GFAP level above a certain and currently unknown cut-off value can significantly predict a need for urgent neurosurgical observation and/or intervention in moderate TBI patients. Biomarker dynamics between prehospital and in-hospital biomarker values of S100B and GFAP can significantly predict a need for urgent neurosurgical observation and/or intervention. Biomarker dynamics between prehospital and in-hospital biomarker values of S100B and GFAP can significantly predict hospital course and outcome of patients with moderate TBI.