View clinical trials related to Nervous System Diseases.
Filter by:The present study aims to compare the efficiency of respiratory therapy with cough assist and the efficiency of usual respiratory therapy in intensive care patients suffering of neurologic disorder and cough ineffectiveness. The investigators hypothesis is that cough assist is more efficient than usual respiratory care in this group of patients.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate if the variability of biological signals, such as heart rate and temperature, can predict weaning from mechanical ventilation in patients with failure to wean.
The study hypothesis is that an ultrasonic flow sensor can accurately measure flow in hydrocephalic shunts. The ultrasonic sensor will measure cerebrospinal fluid drainage in hydrocephalus patients with external ventriculostomies and extra-ventricular drainage systems. The sensor measurements will be compared with the volume of fluid collected by the drainage bag. After a 24-hour measurement period, the doctor will change the drainage bag position to simulate the patient sitting up and leaning back, to see if this temporarily stops flow through the drainage line. This data will show whether the sensor accurately measures typical drainage flows seen in hydrocephalus patients. This research will help develop an implantable flow monitor for pediatric hydrocephalus patients.
Along with cognitive and psychobehavioural disorders, gait disorders represent a major problem in the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease (PD). PD can be considered to be a hyperglutamatergic disease because dopaminergic depletion induces hyperactivity of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the internal pallidum (GPi), with glutamatergic hyperactivity of the STN's efferent pathway, i.e., the subthalamopallidal, subthalamonigral and subthalamo-entopeduncular pathways (projecting to the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN)). Excess glutamate in the PPN has also been observed in the 6-OHDA rat model of PD. Reduction of this glutamatergic hyperactivity within the PPN via the systemic or intra-peduncular administration of glutamate antagonists improves akinesia in drug-induced murine and primate models of PD, via the NMDA and AMPA receptors. High doses of memantine (10 mg/kg) improve locomotion in reserpine- and alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine-treated rats. In humans, the PPN may play a key role in gait, posture control, axial rigidity and attention. It is also involved in the gating of sensory information involved in the startle reflex, which can be studied via prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the blink reflex. At present, two uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonists are approved for use in humans: amantadine and memantine. Reviews of the recent literature on these drugs have identified no published studies specifically on severe gait and attention disorders in PD. Memantine is a partial blocker of open NMDA channels. The value of memantine relates to the fact that it decreases excessive glutamatergic transmission by lowering the synaptic noise due to excessive activation of NMDA receptors. In this double-blind study, the investigators shall seek to demonstrate the presence or absence of an effect of memantine on gait and attention disorders. In order to study the interaction between glutamatergic hyperactivity and the dopaminergic system, the investigators shall study the phenomena both in the absence of L-dopa and following acute administration of the latter. Twenty eight volunteer, non-demented, late-stage PD patients displaying severe gait disorders will receive memantine (20 mg/day) or placebo for 3 months. The investigators expect to see a reduction in gait and attention disorders, together with an improvement in the blink reflex with PPI under memantine. This pilot study could subsequently be turned into a double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter study.
The investigators will take cerebral and subarachnoid biopsy by flexible endoscopy in patients without neurological findings. The investigators will use retrospective and prospective patients.
This study is being conducted to determine the safety and effect on cognitive function of the investigational medication, EVP-6124, in individuals with mild to moderate probable Alzheimer's disease.
The aim of the study is to determine if 2-week repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation at the subacute phase of stroke (between day 7 and day 14) improves significantly arm motility at 3 months with remaining effect at one year, without significant adverse effect.
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and feasibility of regenerative therapy with mesenchymal stem cells from adipose tissue, administered intravenously in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis who do not respond to treatment.
Evaluation of Wire Electrodes to Activate the Expiratory Muscles to Restore Cough
This study is being conducted to determine the safety and effect on cognitive function of two different doses of an investigational medication, EVP-6124, in individuals with schizophrenia who are on chronic stable atypical anti-psychotic therapy. In addition, behavioral and psychotic symptoms will be evaluated.