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822 active trials for Stroke

Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in People With White Matter Hyperintensities Who Have Had a Stroke

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.

Start: September 2018
Metacognitive-Strategy Training in Sub-Acute Stroke

The long-term goal of this research is to improve activity performance and reduce motor impairment in individuals with stroke. Contemporary stroke rehabilitation focuses on remediation of post-stroke impairments with a false assumption that reduction in impairments will automatically lead to improvements in activity performance. Specifically, stroke rehabilitation is focused primarily on the use of task-specific training (TST), which recent research has found to yield negligible improvement in upper extremity motor function often consistent with or less than control conditions. These protocols are time intensive and often do not lead to transfer of training effects to improvement in activity performance. This is a common issue that has been evidenced in longitudinal studies of individuals with stroke; over half of stroke survivors continue to be dependent on others for the most basic of life activities after rehabilitation. Decreases in activity performance further contribute to lower life satisfaction, quality of life, and participation in daily life. The goal of this proposed project is to evaluate the efficacy of a clinically-feasible metacognitive strategy training (MCST) intervention, the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach, to improve activity performance and reduce stroke impairment for individuals with sub-acute stroke. Recent evidence highlights two primary issues in stroke rehabilitation. 1) Interventions are needed that directly target activity performance. Gains in upper extremity function, even using the most contemporary approaches, are not translating to meaningful gains in activity performance. 2) Interventions need to be clinically feasible for future implementation. In recent stroke rehabilitation clinical trials, participants received an average of over 30 hours of therapy in only one treatment modality. Individuals in stroke rehabilitation receive a median of only 6 outpatient visits across all health care specialties combined (OT, PT, SLP, physiatrist). Metacognitive strategy training (MCST), specifically the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) approach, is a potential solution to address both of these gaps. CO-OP is a performance-based, problem-solving approach that enables participants to improve task performance through cognitive strategy use. In the exploratory clinical trial for individuals with sub-acute stroke (n=26), the study compared ten, 45-minute sessions of MCST (CO-OP) with dose-matched outpatient usual care outpatient occupational therapy (OT). The MCST (CO-OP) group demonstrated a large effect over usual care on objective measures of trained functional activities (d=1.6) and untrained functional activities (d = 1.1). The MCST group also demonstrated a moderate effect over usual care outpatient OT on improving motor function (r = 0.3). The goal of this proposed project is to determine the efficacy of MCST to improve activity performance and to reduce motor impairments in individuals with subacute stroke. A single-blind, parallel, randomized clinical trial will be conducted with individuals with sub-acute stroke. Participants will be randomized to a 10-session MCST (CO-OP) treatment group or to a dose matched usual care outpatient OT control group. Data will be collected pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at 3-months post-intervention assessment. Our central research hypothesis is that MCST will produce a significant improvement on objective and subjective measures of activity performance (trained and untrained goals) and reduce motor impairment in comparison to a usual care OT group. Objective 1: Evaluate the efficacy of MCST to improve subjective and objective activity performance in individuals with subacute stroke. Primary Endpoint: MCST will have a greater positive effect compared to usual care OT on subjective and objective activity performance of trained goals. Primary Endpoint: MCST will have a greater positive effect compared to usual care OT on subjective and objective activity performance of untrained activity goals to demonstrate transfer of the treatment effect. Secondary Endpoint: MCST will have a greater positive effect compared to usual care OT on subjective stroke recovery (participation and role functioning) Objective 2: Evaluate the efficacy of MCST to improve motor function in individuals with subacute stroke. Primary Endpoint: MCST group will have a greater positive effect compared to usual care OT on reducing motor impairment. Secondary Endpoint: MCST will have a greater positive effect compared to usual care OT on subjective stroke recovery (physical functioning)

Start: November 2019
Mobile Technologies and Post-stroke Depression

The recent development of acute phase treatments has dramatically improved stroke functional outcome but post-stroke neuropsychiatric disorders, notably post-stroke depression, continue to contribute to the heavy burden of stroke. While these conditions affect about 25% of stroke patients at 3 months, they are under-reported spontaneously by patients and are under-evaluated and treated by clinicians. Other than stroke severity and psychiatric history, risk factors for post-stroke depression remain a matter of debate, thus preventing identification of high-risk patients. Moreover, to date, neither pharmacological nor nonpharmacological treatments have demonstrated a significant benefit in the prevention of this disorder, thereby also impeding the development of early treatment strategies. Yet,the early management of post-stroke depression is critical given its negative influence on long-term functional outcomes, medication adherence, efficient use of rehabilitation services and the risk of stroke recurrence or vascular events. There is a pressing need to develop new tools allowing for the early detection of post-stroke neuropsychiatric complications for each individual patient. The rapid expansion of ambulatory monitoring techniques, such as Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), allows daily evaluations of mood symptoms in real time and in the natural contexts of daily life. The investigators have previously validated the feasibility and validity of EMA to assess daily life emotional symptoms after stroke, demonstrating its utility to investigate their evolution during the 3 months following stroke and to identify early predictors of post-stroke depression such as stress reactivity and social support, suggesting that EMA could be used in the early personalized care management of these neuropsychiatric complications. Recently, preliminary data have also emphasized the potential of EMA interventions to improve the outcome of psychiatric disorders.

Start: September 2020
Imaging Post-Stroke Recovery: Using MEG to Evaluate Cognition

This is a study using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to look at recovery in those with minor stroke. The investigators know that these individuals report difficulties in attention, concentration, multi-tasking, energy level, and processing speed that appear to be independent of lesion size or location. The underlying pathophysiology is unclear; however, anecdotally, many individuals are significantly improved by 6 months post-stroke. One hypothesis is that a single lesion, regardless of size, may disrupt the classic neural networks required for cognitive function. The investigators are currently collecting data to better characterize these difficulties and stroke patients' recovery as part of a previously approved recovery study. In this sub-study, the investigators propose to add MEG at 1 and 6 months in a subset of individuals with small: 1) subcortical, and 2) cortical lesions. The investigators will partner with colleagues at the University of Maryland (College Park), who are well experienced with MEG to conduct this research. In addition a control population of age-similar individuals will be recruited for comparison. Cerebral activation patterns of individuals with stroke versus controls will be compared, both across patients with stroke at a given time point, and within subjects from 1 to 6 months to determine the association of abnormal activation with cognitive dysfunction and recovery. **The investigators have recently extended follow-up by adding an additional assessment at 12 months and will enroll additional participants (up to 40 patients with minor stroke, 15 age-similar controls).

Start: July 2018
Looking Glass: Bimanual Balanced Reaching With Visual Biofeedback

The goal of this research study is to increase understanding of error augmentation by applying it to visual feedback during motion tracking with a Leap Motion device - a recently developed optical hand tracking tool - and the LookingGlass - a new, portable virtual reality environment. In conjunction with the Leap, large, three dimensional work spaces can provide an immersive and virtual augmented environment for rehabilitation. Previously, experiments have utilized the Virtual Reality Robotic and Optical Operations Machine (VRROOM) to create such visually immersive environments. The Robotics lab as part of the Arms and Hands Lab on the 22nd floor of the Shirley Ryan Abilitylab has developed a portable version of this system, which is more compact and clinic-compatible. Combining this visual 3D system with the Leap creates a novel, more capable apparatus for studying error augmentation. This research study will have 3 different arms: 1.) a healthy group of individuals (Healthy Arm), 2.) a group of stroke survivors within 8 months of stroke (Acute Arm), and 3.) a group of stroke survivors that had their stroke more than 8 months ago (Chronic Arm). Each Arm will use the Leap motion tracker and the Looking Glass to participate in a reaching intervention. The healthy arm will only participate in 1 visit with an intervention with and without error augmented visual feedback. The Acute Arm and the Chronic Arm will both have 2 groups: 1.) Error Augmented Visual Feedback group and 2.) Non-Augmented or Veridical Visual Feedback group. The Chronic Arm will have a structured intervention and evaluation protocol: Study staff will administer outcome assessments at 3 time points: a.) prior to intervention, b.) post intervention, and c.) 2 months after the conclusion of intervention. Intervention will occur over the span of 6-8 weeks with the goal of 3 1-hour sessions per week. The Acute Arm will have a less structured intervention that will occur while the participant is an inpatient at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Study staff will administer outcome assessments at at least 2 time points: a.) prior to intervention, b.) post intervention just prior to discharge from Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Between initial and post intervention evaluations, midpoint evaluations will take place at a maximum of once per week if the participant's schedule, activity tolerance, and length of stay allows. Intervention will consist of 1-hour sessions occurring according to the availability of the participant at the rate of no more than 2 sessions in a 24 hour period. Investigators hope to investigate these questions: Can the movement of healthy individuals be characterized with error augmented visual feedback and veridical visual feedback? Will error augmented visual feedback or veridical visual feedback result in greater movement ability improvement? Investigators hypothesize that in the Chronic Arm, those what trained with error-augmented visual feedback will have improved movement ability compared to those who trained with veridical visual feedback. Is treatment with the looking glass and leap system feasible with an inpatient population? Investigators hypothesize that this treatment will be feasible for an inpatient population.

Start: August 2017
Clinical Outcome Modelling of Rapid Dynamics in Acute Stroke

Stroke - still the second commonest cause of death and principal cause of adult neurological disability in the Western World - is characterised by rapid changes over time and marked variability in outcomes. A patient may improve or deteriorate over minutes, and the resultant disability may range from an obvious complete paralysis to subtle, task dependent incoordination of a single limb. Unlike many other neurological disorders, stroke can be exquisitely sensitive to prompt and intelligently tailored treatment, rewarding innovation in the delivery of care with real-world, tangible impact on patient outcomes. Optimal treatment therefore requires both detailed characterisation of the patient's clinical picture and its pattern of change over time. Arguably the most important aspect of the patient's clinical picture -- body movement -- remains remarkably poorly documented: quantified only subjectively and at infrequent intervals in the patient's clinical evolution. The combination of artificial intelligence with high-performance computing now enables automatic extraction of a patient's skeletal frame resolved down to major joints, like that of a stick-man, to be delivered simply, safely, and inexpensively, without the use of cumbersome body worn markers. Central to this technology is patient privacy, with the skeletal frame extracted in real time, ensuring no video data, from which patients can be identified, to be stored or transmitted by the device. Our motion categorisation system -- MoCat -- will be used to study the rapid dynamics of acute stroke, seamlessly embedded in the clinical stream. By quantifying the change in motor deficit over time we shall examine the relationship between these trajectories with clinical outcomes and develop predictive models that can support clinical management and optimise service delivery.

Start: July 2021