Bmc Neurol
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The ReSPonD trial--rivastigmine to stabilise gait in Parkinson's disease a phase II, randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trial to evaluate the effect of rivastigmine on gait in patients with Parkinson's disease who have fallen.
Gait impairment is common in people with Parkinson's disease. There is a lack of effective interventions to target this debilitating complication and therefore a need to identify new therapeutic options. An underlying cholinergic deficit contributes to both the gait and cognitive dysfunction seen in Parkinson's disease. The combined impact of both impairments can be assessed in gait tasks performed with concomitant cognitive tasks. The aim of this trial is to evaluate the impact of a cholinesterase inhibitor on cognitive function and gait performance in people with established Parkinson's disease. ⋯ This randomised controlled trial will examine the effect of cholinesterase inhibitor therapy on gait, balance and falls in Parkinson's disease. If effective, it would offer a new therapeutic option to ameliorating gait and cognitive deficits in a population at high risk of falls.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Intensified secondary prevention intending a reduction of recurrent events in TIA and minor stroke patients (INSPiRE-TMS): a protocol for a randomised controlled trial.
Patients with recent stroke or TIA are at high risk for new vascular events. Several evidence based strategies in secondary prevention of stroke are available but frequently underused. Support programs with multifactorial risk factor modifications after stroke or TIA have not been investigated in large-scale prospective controlled trials so far. INSPiRE-TMS is a prospective, multi-center, randomized open intervention trial for intensified secondary prevention after minor stroke and TIA. ⋯ Given the high risk for vascular re-events in acute stroke and the available effective strategies in secondary prevention, the INSPIRE-TMS support program has the potential to lead to a relevant reduction of recurrent events and a prolongation of the event-free survival time. The trial will provide the basis for the decision whether an intensified secondary prevention program after stroke should be implemented into regular care. A cost-effectiveness evaluation will be performed.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Study protocol of Prednisone in episodic Cluster Headache (PredCH): a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel group trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral prednisone as an add-on therapy in the prophylactic treatment of episodic cluster headache with verapamil.
Episodic cluster headache (ECH) is a primary headache disorder that severely impairs patient's quality of life. First-line therapy in the initiation of a prophylactic treatment is verapamil. Due to its delayed onset of efficacy and the necessary slow titration of dosage for tolerability reasons prednisone is frequently added by clinicians to the initial prophylactic treatment of a cluster episode. This treatment strategy is thought to effectively reduce the number and intensity of cluster attacks in the beginning of a cluster episode (before verapamil is effective). This study will assess the efficacy and safety of oral prednisone as an add-on therapy to verapamil and compare it to a monotherapy with verapamil in the initial prophylactic treatment of a cluster episode. ⋯ PredCH is designed to assess whether oral prednisone added to first-line agent verapamil helps reduce the number and intensity of cluster attacks in the beginning of a cluster episode as compared to monotherapy with verapamil.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Multimodal noninvasive and invasive imaging of extracranial venous abnormalities indicative of CCSVI: results of the PREMiSe pilot study.
There is no established noninvasive or invasive diagnostic imaging modality at present that can serve as a 'gold standard' or "benchmark" for the detection of the venous anomalies, indicative of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). We investigated the sensitivity and specificity of 2 invasive vs. 2 noninvasive imaging techniques for the detection of extracranial venous anomalies in the internal jugular veins (IJVs) and azygos vein/vertebral veins (VVs) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). ⋯ Noninvasive DS screening for the detection of venous anomalies indicative of CCSVI may be a reliable approach for identifying patients eligible for further multimodal invasive imaging testing of the IJVs. However, the noninvasive screening methods were inadequate to depict the total amount of azygos vein/VVs anomalies identified with invasive testing. This pilot study, with limited sample size, shows that both a non-invasive and invasive multimodal imaging diagnostic approach should be recommended to depict a range of extracranial venous anomalies indicative of CCSVI. However, lack of invasive testing on the study subjects whose results were negative on the DS screening and of healthy controls, limits further generalizibility of our findings. In addition, the findings from the 2 invasive techniques confirmed the existence of severe extracranial venous anomalies that significantly impaired normal blood outflow from the brain in this group of MS patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
V-TIME: a treadmill training program augmented by virtual reality to decrease fall risk in older adults: study design of a randomized controlled trial.
Recent work has demonstrated that fall risk can be attributed to cognitive as well as motor deficits. Indeed, everyday walking in complex environments utilizes executive function, dual tasking, planning and scanning, all while walking forward. Pilot studies suggest that a multi-modal intervention that combines treadmill training to target motor function and a virtual reality obstacle course to address the cognitive components of fall risk may be used to successfully address the motor-cognitive interactions that are fundamental for fall risk reduction. The proposed randomized controlled trial will evaluate the effects of treadmill training augmented with virtual reality on fall risk. ⋯ This randomized controlled trial will demonstrate the extent to which an intervention that combines treadmill training augmented by virtual reality reduces fall risk, improves mobility and enhances cognitive function in a diverse group of older adults. In addition, the comparison to an active control group that undergoes treadmill training without virtual reality will provide evidence as to the added value of addressing motor cognitive interactions as an integrated unit.