View clinical trials related to Stroke.
Filter by:Objective: The Nanshan Elderly Cohort Study (NECS) aims to investigate the nutritional, as well as other environmental and genetic factors of chronic diseases, such as cardio-metabolic diseases. Study design: NECS is a community-based prospective cohort study. Participants: About 10000-20000 apparently healthy residents, living in Nanshan, Shenzhen (South China) for >5 years, aged ≥ 65 years, will be recruited between 2018 and 2019. Visits and Data Collection: Participants will be followed up approximately every 3 years by invited to the Community Healthcare Service Centre. At each survey, face-to-face interviews, anthropometric measurements, ultrasonography examination, electrocardiogram test and specimen collection will be conducted. Key variables: 1. Face-to-face interviews: Structured questionnaires will be used to collect the participants' socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyles, habitual dietary intake, physical activity, history of chronic diseases, use of supplements and medications, family history, psychological health and cognitive function. 2. Physical examinations: Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure tests, handgrip strength, and usual gait speed. 3. Ultrasonography examinations: Ultrasonography examination will be performed to determine carotid artery intima-media thickness and plaque, fatty liver. 4. Electrocardiogram test: Electrocardiogram test is to obtain information about the structure and function of the heart. 5. Specimen collections: Overnight fasting blood sample, early morning first-void urine sample and faeces samples will be collected and stored at −80°C till tests. 6. Laboratory tests: 1. Blood tests: Metabolic syndrome-related indices; nutritional indices; inflammatory markers; sexual hormones; genetic markers. 2. Urinary tests: Flavonoids and flavones, minerals, creatinine and renal function related markers. 3. Fecal test: Gut microbiota and related metabolites. 7. Morbidity and mortality: Relevant data will be also retrieved via local multiple Health information systems. 8. Others: Many other laboratory tests or instrument tests will be developed depended on needs and resources in future.
This study investigates the effects of intensive, high dosage task and impairment based training of the hemiparetic hand, using haptic robots integrated with complex gaming and virtual reality simulations. There is a time-limited period of post-ischemic heightened neuronal plasticity during which intensive training may optimally affect the recovery of motor skills, indicating that the timing of rehabilitation is as important as the dosing. However, recent literature indicates a controversy regarding both the value of intensive, high dosage as well as the optimal timing for therapy in the first two months after stroke. This study is designed to empirically investigate this controversy. It is evident that providing additional, intensive therapy during the acute rehabilitation stay is more complicated to implement and difficult for patients to tolerate, than initiating it in the outpatient setting, immediately after discharge. The robotic/VR system is specifically designed to deliver hand and arm training when motion and strength are limited, using adaptive algorithms to drive individual finger movement, gain adaptation and workspace modification to increase finger and arm range of motion, and haptic and visual feedback from mirrored movements to reinforce motor networks in the lesioned hemisphere.
The objective of the study is to compare short-term (8 weeks) anticoagulation therapy (DOAC) vs. antiplatelet therapy for the prevention of device thrombosis following transcatheter LAAC.
Madonna's Rehabilitation Engineering Center of Excellence (REC) is continually developing custom devices for persons with disabilities. These devices are created to improve the independence of individuals living with disabilities at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals and in the community. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact custom assistive and adaptive devices have on patient independence, quality of life, and experience at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals.
Stair climbing up and down is an essential part of everyday's mobility. Physiotherapy is focused on muscle strengthening, real floor walking and stairs climbing tasks, but these methods do not stress in terms of intensity stair-climbing practice. The aims of this study is to compare whether an intensive robot-assisted stair climbing training (RASCT) is more effective than conventional physiotherapy (CP) for improving stair climbing ability, gait and postural control in stroke patients.
The burden of stroke is increasing in many low- and middle income countries.(1) Around 10% of all thrombotic cerebrovascular events (CVE) occur in young population defined as younger than 50 years old (2) In the majority of these patients, the cause of the ischaemic stroke remains undetermined.(3) Arterial thrombosis is a major clinical manifestation of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), an autoimmune condition characterised by thrombotic events and/or pregnancy morbidity with persistently positive antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) (4). Considering all patients with cerebral ischaemia, the prevalence of aPL seems rather high in young adults, who might constitute a subgroup at high risk for recurrence.(5) Through the support of the Antiphospholipid Syndrome Alliance for Clinical Trials and International Networking (APS ACTION), a systematic review aiming to estimate the frequency of clinically significant aPL profiles in the general population (no age limit) was completed. (6) The pathogenesis of ischemic stroke is complex, and several studies documented hypercoagulable states as a significant mechanism underlying stroke. (8). The latter include protein C, protein S, or antithrombin III deficiencies, activated protein C resistance and anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPLA), including anticardiolipin (aCL) antibodies or lupus anticoagulant (LAC), which influence stroke susceptibility owing to their capacity to disturb normal hemostatic mechanisms (9). While aPLA are clinically associated with a state of hypercoagulation and prothrombotic disorders, the exact mechanism underlying their prothrombotic effects remains unknown (10). aPLA are detected either functionally, owing to their ability to prolong coagulation time in a phospholipid-dependent coagulation test (LAC), or by measuring specific [anticardiolipin (aCL) and antiphosphatidylserine (aPS)] antibodies by specific immunoassays, using anionic phospholipids as antigens (11). The contribution of LAC to the overall risk of both venous and arterial thrombosis, including ischemic stroke, is now well recognized (12). While the contribution of aPLA (including LAC and aCL antibodies) to thrombosis is well established, their role as independent risk factors in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke yielded apparently conflicting results. (13). These conflicting results could be explained by differences in ethnic origin , inherent variation in aPLA levels and in the failure in some studies to account for the contribution of covariates (14). Osteopontin (OPN) was first identified as a protein involved in bone remodelling, but later also shown to have important immunological roles. (15).
A Phase 3 study to examine the safety and effectiveness of the allogeneic, adult stem cell investigational product, MultiStem, in adults who have suffered an acute ischemic stroke in the previous 18-36 hours.
The recovery of walking ability is crucial to promote independence in daily living and is one of the major goal of neuromotor rehabilitation. Currently, standard rehabilitative programs are usually based on straight-walking training (SWT) and the assessment of their effects is performed through functional scales based on straight-walking trajectories, e.g. Timed Up and Go (TUG), 10 meters walking test (10mWT). Curved-walking training (CWT) may be interesting to provide an ecological and challenging context during rehabilitation. Indeed, CWT is based on demanding neural processes that drive an asymmetrical contribution at lower limb level, challenging balance ability and complex adaptation such as body weight shifting in response to centrifugal force and production of different step lengths. Up to now, literature has investigated CWT in healthy adults in terms of muscular activation, kinematics and kinetics of the movement. Results showed that CWT needs a different biomechanical strategy with respect to SWT. Nevertheless CWT has not been investigated in pathological adults. The present study aims at assessing the effectiveness of a rehabilitative physical therapy based on CWT with respect to traditional SWT for the recovery of locomotor abilities in neurological and orthopaedic patients. The hypothesis is that a training based on curved-walking is ecologically meaningful and may be superior with respect to standard training in improving balance, walking abilities, and independence in activity of daily live of patients. A secondary aim of the project is to propose an innovative functional scale based on the timed up and go on curved trajectory (CTUG), and to determine its reliability and responsiveness, establishing the minimum Detectable Change (MDC) and the Minimal Clinically Important Difference (MCID). A single-blind randomized controlled study is being carried out on three different populations: - Post-acute stroke patients - Idiopathic Parkinson Disease - Femoral fracture A healthy group is also being recruited to provide reference values of CTUG. For each of the three populations, subjects are randomized into two groups. The experimental one performs a novel rehabilitative program composed by a 30-minute training on curved trajectory ("S" trajectory composed by two semicircle with a radius of 1.2 m) in addition to usual care. The control group performs an equal dose of traditional treatment on straight trajectories. Both groups undergo 20 90-minutes sessions of training (three times a week for seven weeks). Participants are evaluated at baseline (T0), after training (T1), and at a three-months follow-up visit (T2). The primary outcome measure is the 10mWT (minimal clinically important difference of 0.16 m/s identified by Tilson and colleagues). On the basis of this measure, a sample size of 70 subjects for each population was computed.
BACKGROUND: The cause of ischemic stroke remains undetermined in 30-40% of the cases, but circulating blood clots (thromboemboli) are a postulated common denominator in approx. 75% of patients. Transcranial Doppler monitoring (TCDM) is a non-invasive method of detecting circulating microemboli (CME) in the human cerebral circulation. The method is not used systematically in unselected groups of patients with repeated long-term registrations. New ultrasound equipment is ambulatory, less unpleasant for the patient and allows extended monitoring sessions. This may vastly simplify the implementation of TCDM as a clinically useful diagnostic tool. AIMS: Determine the usefulness of TCDM in acute stroke diagnostics by assessing prevalence and frequency of CME in unselected patients with ischemic stroke, the influence of antithrombotic drugs on CME and the relationship between MES and recurrent stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). HYPOTHESES: Prevalence and frequency of CME are higher during the first 24 hours than at later follow-up. Stroke etiology can be assessed by the presence or absence of CME. Presence of CME is associated with increased risk of recurrent TIA of stroke within 3 months and 1 year. Cessation of CME after the start of antithrombotic treatment is associated with reduced risk of recurrent TIA or stroke.
At present there is no consensus for post-stroke imaging except for the realization of early cerebral CT at 24 hours post-thrombolysis. The use of cerebral perfusion scintigraphy would predict the course of a stroke. Indeed, it has been shown that a good perfusion is linked to a good evolution of the neurological deficit. This test is used routinely to evaluate cerebral perfusion in patients with stroke. This technique was also used to study the mechanisms of post-stroke aphasia and to highlight neuronal disconnections after stroke, a reflection of the functioning of neural networks. Neuropsychological tests are almost always done at 3 months. Fatigue is studied: PSF scale at 3 months, 6 months and 2 years. Research needs to be continued in this area because the pathophysiology remains unknown and the symptoms are disabling for patients. Using cerebral perfusion imaging would bring elements of understanding of this mechanism and ultimately improve the management of patients.