View clinical trials related to Cerebellar Ataxia.
Filter by:Engage-Ataxia will implement a physical activity coaching program for people with cerebellar ataxia at Teachers College, Columbia University. This program expands upon the current Engage program for people with Parkinson's disease (Engage-PD), an exercise coaching program for people with early stage Parkinson's disease to target individuals with early stage cerebellar ataxia. Engage-Ataxia will utilize a physical or occupational therapist to provide up to five one-on-one coaching sessions for individuals newly diagnosed with cerebellar ataxia. Therapists will work with participants to provide individualized structured support to facilitate and optimize exercise uptake as one part of comprehensive disease management. Participants will undertake two assessments three months apart, and will receive coaching interventions via Zoom healthcare platform. The primary objective of this program is to increase physical activity and exercise engagement in individuals with early stage cerebellar ataxia. This feasibility study will provide preliminary data and insight into the benefits of a remote coaching intervention for people with cerebellar ataxia.
Cerebellar ataxia (CA) is a collection of signs and symptoms caused by cerebellar dysfunction, which can be the result of different disease processes including hereditary and acquired conditions. High incidence of falls is reported in people with CA due to poor balance while walking. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the balance of people with CA to identify potential fallers. There are some clinical tests commonly used for assessing the balance of people with CA, including both generic measures of balance and ataxia-specific rating scales. The current best balance outcome measures for CA includes Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go test (TUG), and the balance related items in Scale for the assessment and rating of ataxia (SARA). TUG is commonly used in clinical settings for the assessment of mobility and fall risk of individuals. However, a study done by Winser et. al (2017) found that the correlation between TUG and ataxia rating scales (SARA and ICARS) is only moderate. This indicates that the gait speed and functional mobility findings of TUG might not truly reflect the balance deficits of CA. Therefore, our study will develop a modified TUG for the assessment of balance in people with CA. Circular TUG (cTUG) is a modified version of the standard TUG. cTUG is an equilibrium test that challenges subjects' ability to maintain balance in response to the constant change in direction of walking. In cTUG, the subject walks a semi-circular pathway instead of a straight line. Walking in a circular pathway targets at challenging the coordination of people with CA as walking in a circle requires constant change in directions and correction after feedback. It is speculated that the cTUG will have better accuracy in predicting the balance and falls risk among people with CA. We will target at recruiting 30 healthy volunteers and 30 individuals with cerebellar ataxia. Besides the cTUG we will also assess disease severity of ataxia using the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), balance using the Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go test, Sensory Organization test, Limits of Stability test and functional independence using the Barthel Index. For validation of the cTUG, two types of reliability will be examined, including intra-rater reliability and interrater reliability and four types of validity will be assessed, including concurrent validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and external validity.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of using a selected dual-task- training program to improve postural stability in children with ataxia after medulloblastoma resection. Thirty patients will participate in this study. Patients will be classified randomly into two equal groups: study and control groups -Both groups will receive conventional physical therapy treatment including mobility exercises, balance exercises, gait training exercises, and exercises to improve physical conditioning. In addition, the study group will receive a selected dual-task training program including balance and cognitive activities. The treatment program will be conducted three days per week for eight successive weeks. The patients will be assessed with the Scale of Assessment and Rating of Ataxia, Humac Balance System, the Pediatric Balance Scale and Functional Independent Measurement. The measures will be recorded two times: before the application of the treatment program (pre) and after the end of the treatment program (post).
Cerebellar ataxia with neuropathy and bilateral areflexia syndrome (CANVAS) is a late onset neurodegenerative disorder with a slowly progressive ataxia. It's genetic causative etiology with an autosomal recessive inheritance has a recent discovery. It is clinically characterized by impaired visually enhanced vestibulo-ocular reflex, although patients commonly present with imbalance as a main concern, associated with sensory complaints. It has been demonstrated that sensory impairment in CANVAS patients is due to degeneration of dorsal root with abnormal sensory nerve conduction. Previously defined diagnostic criteria included cerebellar atrophy on brain MRI, neuronopathy on electrophysiological studies and negative genetic testing for other inherited ataxia syndromes like Friedriech ataxia and spinal cerebellar ataxia (SCA). Peripheral nerve ultrasound is a noninvasive technique, able to identify abnormal peripheral nerves with underlying injuries and specific sonographic characteristics. Pelosi et al established that patients with CANVAS have a smaller nerve cross sectional area (CSA) compared to healthy individuals and/ or axonal neuropathies. The main objective of this study was to obtaine a detailed description of peripheral nerves in consecutive patients with CANVAS syndrome followed in theneurology department of the Universitary Hospital of Nimes (France), using conventional electrophysiology and peripheral nerve ultrasound.
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is one of autosomal dominant hereditary ataxias. Standing imbalance, unsteady gait, dysmetria, fatigue, and depression would occur gradually. There are no effective treatment or palliative methods for patients in the present days. However, low-dose growth hormone, or its downstream product, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1), may deter the progress of SCA3 in transgenic mice. The main bioactive constituent among the Chinese medicine WT possesses neuroprotective function against glutamate-induced toxicity, which is one major pathology of SCA3. It promotes neurogenesis, and increases the protein expression of IGF-1 in ischemic brains of rats. Thus, we designed a randomized, double-blind trial for patients with SCA3, if WT is a possible neuroprotective medicine. All the subjects will be recruited from Changhua Christian Hospital. Diagnosis is confirmed by gene test and magnetic resonance image by a neurologist. They will be assigned in random and double blind, prescribed with 3 grams concentrated powder of WT or placebo, twice a day, for 12 weeks. After the washout period of 4 weeks, there will be a crossover of placebo or WT for another 12 weeks. After that, another 4-week rest will be followed by the end of trial. Check items in five check points include: 1. Blood examination (serum IGF-1, Neurofilament light chain, mitochondria copy number, 8_OHdG, delta-Ct), 2.Neurological exam (Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia), 3. Questionnaires (Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, Epworth Sleepiness Scale), 4. Handgrip strength test (which is correlated to IGF-1 value in elderly), and 5. serum metabolites, . All the data will be disclosed after the end of trial. Paired-T test or Wilcoxon Ranked Sign Test will be operated in SPSS.
The aim of this study is to describe the interaction of the cognitive and visual-cognitive task with postural stability in patients suffering by cerebellar ataxia. Investigators will measure changes in postural stability parameters and in secondary task performance, which should show the ability of the patients to manage the dualtask situations.
Balance and aerobic training show promise as treatments for degenerative cerebellar diseases, but the neural effects of both training methods are unknown. The goal of this project is to evaluate how each training method impacts the brain, and particularly, the degenerating cerebellum. Various neuroimaging techniques will be used to accomplish this goal and test the hypothesis that balance training impacts brain structures outside the cerebellum whereas aerobic training causes more neuroplastic changes within the cerebellum.
This is a retrospective observational study of natural-history of ataxia-telangiectasia. Understanding the natural history and its variability is not only vital to planning effective patient-centred services, and counselling patients and their families, but will also inform the design of future clinical research, particularly clinical trials.
This project aims to analyse eye movements, their alterations and influence in reading performance in patients with acquired CNS diseases and compare them with people of the same age, without neurological or ocular pathology and with normal reading speed and pattern. The exploration is focused on the oculomotor system in patients with CNS diseases, even without involvement of the primary visual pathway, and reveals more involvement than the one obtained by a simple ophthalmological examination.
This dose-escalation study is aimed at investigating a novel application for artesunate in the treatment of Friedreich ataxia. It will evaluate this novel application of oral artesunate using a surrogate biological marker as primary endpoint in a phase I-II open trial