View clinical trials related to Traumatic Brain Injury.
Filter by:This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an Internet-based psychosocial treatment in improving problem-solving, communication skills, stress management strategies, and coping among teens who have had a traumatic brain injury and their families.
The purpose of the study is to estimate the incidence of posttraumatic hypopituitarism, and to identify predisposing factors in order to establish a rational responsible socioeconomic screening program.
The investigators propose to develop quantitative automated lesion detection (QALD) procedures to identify brain damage following traumatic brain injury more accurately than is possible with a normal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. These procedures require about 1 hour of imaging in an MRI scanner. Subjects will also undergo about 2 hours of cognitive tests. The investigators will compare the results of the cognitive tests with those from MRI scanning to determine what brain regions are responsible for superior performance and for performance decrements.
Background: - Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant injury in the Armed Forces, but it is also common in the general population. This condition poses significant challenges for both diagnosis and therapy. However, the biological and neurological reasons for TBI remain poorly understood and are in need of more in-depth study. - The National Institutes of Health is collaborating with several military medical centers and research units in a multi-year study of TBI in civilian and military patients. In anticipation of these research projects, the Clinical Center s Rehabilitation Medicine Department needs to become familiar with the instruments they will likely need to evaluate this group of subjects. Objectives: - To evaluate potential test instruments in patients with TBI. - To evaluate patient tolerance of an extensive battery of assessments and the time required to complete the assessments. - To improve staff competencies on new or novel assessments of the TBI patient population Eligibility: - Individuals 18 years of age and older who have been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury in the past 5 years. - Healthy volunteers 18 years of age and older who have had no instances of significant head trauma. Design: - This study requires approximately 3 days of outpatient or inpatient evaluation. - Subjects will undergo cognitive and neuropsychological tests, physical assessments, speech and language evaluation, and balance testing. Tests will be given orally, in writing, and on computers. The testing will be done in blocks of 2 to 3 hours, with rest periods as needed. - Subjects may undergo any or all of the following assessments and screening tools, as determined by the researchers: - Cognitive, quality of life, and functional assessments - Speech, language, and swallowing assessments - Physical functional performance and environment assessments (including balance testing) - Subjects will remain under the care of their own health care providers while participating in this study.
Brain injured patients are at high risk for forming blood clots in the legs and lungs. For non-brain injured trauma patients, we decrease the chances of these blood clots forming by placing the patients on a low dose of the blood thinner enoxaparin. Starting patients with a brain injury on the blood thinner is problematic, however, as this can theoretically cause the brain injury to worsen. Trauma surgeons wait a variable period of time before starting this blood thinner because waiting too long can result in the formation of these blood clots in the legs and lungs. Previous research has shown that some brain injuries which are of lower severity can have enoxaparin started at 24 hours after injury if the brain injury is stable on a repeated computed tomography (CT) scan of the head. This is a pilot study designed to look at the rates of worsening of brain injury if the low dose blood thinner is started at 24 versus 96 hours post-injury.
The purpose of this research study is to evaluate whether Vyvanse, a psychostimulant, can help with attention deficits due to traumatic brain injury (TBI). Vyvanse is currently approved for the treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity (ADHD). The exact effects this drug may have on attention deficits caused by TBI are not known, but we expect that Vyvanse will be of some help in treating those types of problems as well. The study will utilize functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods, as well as neurobehavioral measures, to elucidate neural mechanisms of response.
This study seeks to determine if erythropoietin alpha (EPO) administered to adult critical care patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury improves neurological function assessed at six months after injury.
Each year in the United States alone, a third of a million persons are hospitalized for traumatic brain injury (TBI), of whom approximately 1/4 die. Most are less than 30 years of age. Not only are the health care costs staggering for both initial care and rehabilitation, but the societal loss in terms of economic impact reaches into the billions of dollars annually in the U.S. alone. Despite advances in neurosurgical interventions and intensive care management, many survivors do not fully recover. A significant cause of this mortality and morbidity is thought due to potentially preventable secondary injury, namely oxidant injury, inflammation, and apoptosis in the penumbra (the area of brain surrounding the primary lesion, which is at-risk, but potentially salvageable), beginning in the first few hours after the severe traumatic event. Despite the current bleak outlook for many of these patients, a series of animal investigations have uncovered a promising solution to the problem of the secondary injury seen in severe TBI and other similar processes, namely the early administration of estrogen, a strong anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic compound. Based on these encouraging results from animal studies, the investigators hypothesize that early administration of IV Premarin® in patients with severe TBI will safely reduce secondary brain injury, improve neurological outcomes, and improve survival.
This is a controlled trial of amantadine to improve level of function following severe traumatic brain injury. The purpose of this study is: 1. To determine whether amantadine hydrochloride, given in a dose of 200-400 mg, improves functional recovery from the vegetative and minimally conscious states 2. To determine whether amantadine-related gains in function persist following drug discontinuation 3. To determine the safety profile of amantadine in patients with disorders of consciousness
Fifteen to twenty percent of adults who suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that requires hospitalization and rehabilitation have been found to have growth hormone (GH) deficiency by GH stimulation testing. Moreover, abnormalities have also been established for the cortisol and thyroid axis. The hypothesis of this proposal is that hormone replacement in TBI patients with documented abnormalities in the GH, thyroid, or cortisol axis will improve muscle function, body composition, aerobic capacity (GH) and tests of neuropsychologic function (GH, thyroid, cortisol).