View clinical trials related to Cerebrovascular Disorder.
Filter by:Background: A stroke occurs when not enough blood reaches the brain. Sometimes stroke causes changes in certain brain matter. This is called white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and can lead to mental decline. But not all WMH is caused by stroke. Not all people with WMH experience mental decline. Researchers want to learn more about WMH. They want to see if it is related to disruptions in the blood-brain barrier. Objective: To better understand the how blood-brain barrier disruption is related to white matter hyperintensities. Eligibility: Adults at least 18 years old who have been admitted to a study site with stroke-like symptoms Design: Participants will be screened with an MRI scan and cognitive tests. Participants will have 11 visits over 6 years. Each visit will be 3-4 hours. At each visit, participants will: Update their medical history Have a thin plastic tube (catheter) inserted into an arm vein by needle Have an MRI. The scanner is a metal cylinder in a strong magnetic field. Participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of the cylinder. Participants will be in the scanner about 60 minutes, lying still for up to 20 minutes at a time. They will get earmuffs for loud sounds. Have a dye injected through the catheter during the MRI Have tests of movement, language, and cognition Some participants will have an extra visit for an MRI in a stronger scanner (7T MRI). Participation for some participants will be authorized by their legal representative.
Background: More than 42% of older people (aged +65) have a stroke and most of them require some type of help to self-care at home. Informal caregivers have reported different types of need and have shown dissatisfaction with technical and emotional support delivered by community health teams. Furthermore, empowering informal caregivers who care after older stroke survivors is an important challenge, preventing them from negative outcomes such as burden, anxiety and depression or loss of physical function or hospitalization in older people. Objectives: This pilot study aims to implement and evaluate the impact of an intervention based on training and telephone support delivered to informal caregivers who care after older people post-stroke. Setting: Community health units in Northern Portugal region. Design/Methods: This single blinded randomized trial will be delivered by a community nursing team to informal caregivers 1 week, 1 and 3 months after a hospital discharge. Study outcome(s): The primary outcomes will be informal caregivers´ empowerment. Secondary outcomes will include burden and health quality of life in caregivers; functionality, hospital readmission and institutionalization of older people stroke survivors, measured 1 and 3 months after intervention. Results/Conclusion: Data collection started in February and will be concluded in August 2014. First results will be published at the beginning of 2015. The InCARE programme will be the first pilot in informal caregivers study ever conducted in Portugal. It will highlight new ways to support caregivers who take care of older people after a stroke. If successful, this study will be translational and it will also allow to disseminate the results in Portugal and abroad and implement it as best practice.
This study will determine the risk of brain aneurysm (abnormal outpouching of a brain artery) in young adults who had their carotid artery tied off as an infant as part of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) procedure. This procedure is sometimes performed on newborns with lung problems so that they can have oxygen brought to their blood outside the body. ECMO operates similar to a heart-lung machine. Blood drained from the veins has the carbon dioxide removed and oxygen added. The oxygenated blood is then returned to the body through the arteries. People 18 to 25 years of age who underwent ECMO as an infant at the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., may be eligible for this study. Participants undergo the following procedures: - Medical history and physical and neurological examinations. - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head and neck. MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to obtain images of body organs and tissues. The subject lies in the scanner (a metal cylinder surrounded by a magnetic field) for about 90 minutes, lying still for up to 15 minutes at a time. During part of the procedure, a contrast dye is injected into a vein through a catheter (thin plastic tube) to enhance the images.
Patients with blockage of the blood vessels that supply blood to the back of the brain, known as vertebrobasilar disease (VBD), are at risk of having a stroke or temporary symptoms of a stroke known as transient ischemic attack (TIA). The risk of repeated stroke associated with VBD may be affected by several risk factors, including the degree to which the blockage reduces the blood flow to the brain. Patients with VBD have different levels of blockage ranging from partial blockage to complete blockage, which can affect the blood flow to the brain by variable amounts. The purpose of this research is to determine if patients with symptomatic VBD who demonstrate low blood flow to the back of the brain on magnetic resonance (MR)imaging are at higher risk of developing another stroke or TIA than patients with normal blood flow.
The purpose of this study is to learn more about stroke and obtain information that may serve as the basis for future investigations. It will 1) establish a registry of patients with cerebrovascular disease (stroke); 2) characterize the natural history of acute stroke and transient ischemic attacks (TIA)-an interruption of blood flow to the brain that causes stroke symptoms for a short period of time); and 3) evaluate the data to generate ideas for future studies. Patients 18 years of age or older with suspected acute stroke or TIA may be eligible for this study. Subjects will be recruited from patients who present with stroke at the emergency department of Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. The study will gather data collected from diagnostic and laboratory tests the patient undergoes as part of standard medical care, including findings of medical and neurological examinations and other tests. In addition, studies will be done for research purposes only to gather data about stroke and TIA. These may include the following: - Blood and urine tests not more than 2 tablespoons of blood will be drawn for various tests. - Electrocardiogram (EKG) (heart tracing)-electrodes placed on the chest wall detect the heartbeat and heart rhythm. - Computed tomography (CT) scan of the head-specialized X-rays are used to obtain images of the brain. - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain-a strong magnetic field and radio waves are used to produce images that provide information about the brain tissue and blood vessels. - Transcranial Doppler (TCD)-sound waves are used to image the arteries of the brain and neck. - Echocardiogram-sound waves are used to image the heart and evaluate heart function. Patients may be asked to return to Suburban Hospital for follow-up testing in 1, 3, and/or 12 months, when some of these tests may be repeated to assess changes over time
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a diagnostic tool that creates high quality images of the human body without the use of X-ray (radiation). MRI is especially useful when studying the brain, because it can provide information about certain brain functions. In addition, MRI is much better than standard X-rays at showing areas of the brain close to the skull and detecting changes in the brain associated with neurological diseases. In this study researchers will use MRI to gather information about the processes that control human movement and sensory processing. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the brain is activated when remembering, thinking, or recognizing objects. Researchers would like to determine what happens to brain functions when patients have trouble remembering, thinking, or recognizing objects following the start of disorders in the brain and nervous system. In addition, this study will investigate the processes of motor control in healthy volunteers and patients with disease.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a technique used to investigate the functional activity of the brain. The PET technique allows doctors to study the normal processes of the brain (central nervous system) of normal individuals and patients with neurologic illnesses without physical / structural damage to the brain. When a region of the brain is active, it uses more fuel in the form of oxygen and sugar (glucose). As the brain uses more fuel it produces more waste products, carbon dioxide and water. Blood carries fuel to the brain and waste products away from the brain. As brain activity increases blood flow to and from the area of activity increases also. Knowing these facts, researchers can use radioactive water (H215O) and PET scans to observe what areas of the brain are receiving more blood flow. This study is designed to use positron emission tomography (PET) with radioactive water (H215O) to determine the areas of the brain associated with memory and language. Patients participating in the study will be made up of normal volunteers, patients with epilepsy, and patients with other abnormalities related to the surface of the brain (non-epileptic focal cortical dysfunctions).