View clinical trials related to Stroke.
Filter by:Pilot study of early versus delayed carotid endarterectomy (CEA) for small to medium-sized ischemic stroke caused by high-grade carotid stenosis.
Phase III study to compare the preventive effect of recurrent brain infarction and safety of Aggrenox (combination drug containing sustained-release dipyridamole 200 mg/acetylsalicylic acid 25 mg) twice daily vs. acetylsalicylic acid 81 mg once daily
The purpose of this project is to follow first-ever- acute stroke patients from onset, one, two and four years post stroke and study the effect of two different approaches of exercises implemented the first year post-stroke.
People who have had a stroke often have difficulty walking and problems with their balance. The purpose of this project is to examine problems with foot postures in people who have weakness on one side of their body
This is a trial aiming to evaluate the difference of effectiveness between two therapy methods in patients with acute stroke. The other aim is to use Navigated Brain Stimulation (NBS)to analyze changes in brain networks during the recovery and as the consequence of rehabilitation. The groups are: - body-weight supported gate trainer rehabilitation - gait-oriented traditional physiotherapy Patients in physiotherapy group will have 75 min physiotherapy daily every workday. This includes 20 minutes walking exercises in the traditional group while 20 minutes of gait trainer therapy in the gait trainer group. The evaluation of effectiveness of therapy in each group is made after three weeks' therapy and at six months. The goal is to have 40 patients until the end of June 2006.
This study will examine whether hand movement in stroke patients can be improved by applying electrical stimulation to the side of the brain affected by the stroke. It will compare the effects of similar brain stimulations in stroke patients and healthy volunteers. Healthy, right-handed normal volunteers and stroke patients between 18 and 80 years of age may be eligible for this study. Patients' stroke must have occurred at least 3 months before entering the study and affect one side of the brain only. Candidates are screened with a medical history, brain MRI, and evaluation of memory and attention span. Pregnant women are excluded from the study. The study involves seven 2-day sessions over the course of about 8 weeks, with each session separated by at least 1 week. During each session participants practice a pattern of hand movements and their accuracy in performing the movements is evaluated before and after brain electrical stimulation. The movements include a complex finger sequence, a simple finger sequence, a peg test (placing wooden pegs in holes on a board), a hand function test (turning over cards, picking up small objects with one hand and placing them in a can, picking up small objects with a spoon and placing them in a can, stacking checkers, moving light cans, and moving heavy cans), and a box and block test (picking up and moving blocks from one box to another). The first day of each 2-day session lasts about 5 hours and includes the following: - TMS measurements: A wire coil is held on the scalp, and a brief electrical current is passed through the coil, creating a magnetic pulse that stimulates the brain. During the stimulation, the subject may be asked to tense certain muscles slightly or perform other simple actions. The stimulation may cause a twitch in muscles of the face, arm, or leg, and the subject may hear a click and feel a pulling sensation on the skin under the coil. - tDCS: Small, wet sponge electrodes are applied to the head - one above the eye and the other on the back of the head. A small electrical current is passed between them. The subject may feel an itching or tingling sensation under the electrodes or see light flashes. Some sessions are done with sham tDCS. - Motor learning under tDCS: tDCS is repeated while the subject performs different finger movements. A new pattern of finger movements is taught each session. - Surface electromyography: Electrodes are filed with a conductive gel and taped to the skin over one small hand muscle to measure the electrical activity of muscles. - Behavioral measurements: Evaluation of learned movement tasks - Questionnaires to evaluate the subject's attention, fatigue and mood before and after testing The second day of each session lasts about 2 hours and includes the TMS measurements and behavior measurements.
This study will compare several techniques designed to improve the ability to swallow in stroke patients with chronic dysphagia (difficulty swallowing). Healthy volunteers 20 to 60 years of age and people 20 to 90 years of age who have had a stroke resulting in swallowing problems may be eligible for this study. Volunteers are screened with a medical history, physical examination, and urine test for women to rule out pregnancy. Stroke patients are screened additionally with a chest x-ray, physical examination, cognitive screening, swallowing questionnaires, nasoendoscopy (examination of the nasal passages in the back of the throat using a lighted telescopic instrument) and FEESST (passage of a thin, flexible telescope through the nose to the voice box), videofluoroscopy (x-ray of the head and neck during swallowing) and button press training (learning how to press a button on a table in coordination with swallowing). All participants undergo the following procedures: - Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): A metal coil is placed on the head and sends a pulse of energy to the brain through the scalp. The muscle response to the pulse is recorded from the muscles in the throat that are associated with swallowing. - Electromyography: A needle is used to insert tiny wires in specific muscles of the throat to record the muscle response to the TMS pulses. - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): During brain MRI scanning, subjects lie quietly and images of the brain are taken. In addition to the above tests, stroke patients undergo the following: - Water test: The subject swallows a small amount of water and the number of times required to clear the throat or cough is counted. This test is repeated five times. - Experimental training. Subjects have a total of 12 60-minute training sessions, one session a day for up to 5 sessions a week. - Button press training: The subject swallows small amounts of water. A device placed on the throat senses when swallowing occurs. The subject learns how to coordinate pressing a button on a table in coordination with swallowing. - Vibrotactile stimulator training: A device that uses a buzzing vibration is placed on the throat at times during the swallowing training. - Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS): Wires attached to sponge electrodes are placed on the scalp and over the eye. Small electric currents are delivered to areas of the brain involved with swallowing. This is done at times during the swallowing training. Participants may receive one of several combinations of training approaches; all receive the volitional (button-press) training. Within 5 days of completing training, subjects repeat the tests. TMS, MRI, MEG and x-ray study of swallowing function are also repeated to see if any changes have occurred in the brain or in the ability to swallow after training. Patients are contacted by telephone and in writing 3 and 6 months after training for follow-up on their swallowing status and oral intake.
Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) is believed to be a disorder of attention, characterized by impairment in the ability to perceive or respond to stimuli presented to the contralesional space, and which is not attributable to significant sensory or motor deficits. USN has serious consequences for rehabilitation and long term disabilities. Efforts have been made to clarify both the theoretical basis of this phenomenon and the rehabilitation methods that will be best in improving function. The purpose of this study is to try and contribute to both efforts by examining treatment effectiveness of two methods; one targeting general arousal (phasic alerting), and the other targeting increasing awareness to left side stimuli and habit changes. Functional neuroimaging methods (PET [positron emission tomography] and fMRI [functional magnetic resonance imaging]) have been applied to understand the functional anatomy of the brain during mental processes. Only a few attempts have been made to use functional neuroimaging in patients with neurological deficits such as USN, usually speculations are made based on findings with healthy participants to explain this disorder. This study's aim is to examine the functional reorganization of the attentional network in the brain of USN patients while performing visual tasks, by means of functional neuroimaging techniques, in light of specific rehabilitation techniques. Patients will be examined before and after 3 weeks of rehabilitation both using standardized neurobehavioral tests and PET imaging procedures.
Evaluate for difference in outcome between hospital admission versus discharge after recent TIA, and evaluate feasibility of a larger study.
The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether a brief intravenous infusion of ancrod started within 6 hours of stroke onset improves functional outcome at 3 months.