Stroke

This phase II trial studies how well lower dose radiotherapy after chemotherapy (Carboplatin \& Etoposide) works in treating children with central nervous system (CNS) germinomas. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays, particles, or radioactive seeds to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Carboplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works in a way similar to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but may be better tolerated than cisplatin. Carboplatin works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of tumor cells. Etoposide is in a class of medications known as podophyllotoxin derivatives. It blocks a certain enzyme needed for cell division and DNA repair and may kill cancer cells. Researchers want to see if lowering the dose of standard radiotherapy (RT) after chemotherapy can help get rid of CNS germinomas with fewer long-term side effects.

A phase III, randomized, multi-center, investigational, open label clinical trial that will examine whether treatment with endovascular thrombectomy is superior to standard medical therapy alone in patients who suffer a Distal Medium Vessel Occlusion Ischemic Stroke within 12 hours from time last seen well

Stroke occurs when a blood clot causes a blockage in a blood vessel (artery) within the brain. This type of stroke is called an ischemic stroke and carries a high risk of disability or death. Stroke must be treated very fast. Any delay of even 10 minutes can result in the difference between an independent and a disabled outcome, and in some cases between life and death. Endovascular therapy (EVT) or Thrombectomy is a procedure to remove the blood clot (thrombus) from a blood vessel to reopen it (recanalization). Patients are likely to benefit from a thrombectomy procedure when it is performed in a larger blood vessel. Currently it is not known if thrombectomy procedure will benefit the patients presenting with the stroke that has been caused by a blood clot in a medium sized blood vessel (medium vessel occlusion, MeVO). This trial will enrol patients diagnosed with acute stroke due to a clot in the medium sized vessel. The patients will be randomized within 12 hours of their symptom onset to either standard of care or standard of care plus thrombectomy procedure. The participation will last for 12 months Escape MeVO coordinating centre is located at the University of Calgary. There will be up to 75 sites. We will be recruiting a total of 530 patients.

SISTER is a Phase-II, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded, dose finding trial that aims to determine the safety and preliminary efficacy of TS23, a monoclonal antibody against the alpha-2 antiplasmin (a2-AP), in acute ischemic stroke.

The SUMMIT MAX study is a prospective, randomized, controlled, interventional clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Route 92 Medical MonoPoint® Reperfusion System with the Hi Point 88 and HiPoint 70 Reperfusion Catheters for aspiration thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke patients.

VERIFY will validate biomarkers of upper extremity (UE) motor outcome in the acute ischemic stroke window for immediate use in clinical trials, and explore these biomarkers in acute intracerebral hemorrhage. VERIFY will create the first multicenter, large-scale, prospective dataset of clinical, transmagnetic stimulation (TMS), and MRI measures in the acute stroke time window.

The overall goal of the DISCOVERY study is to better understand what factors contribute to changes in cognitive (i.e., thinking and memory) abilities in patients who experienced a stroke. The purpose of the study is to help doctors identify patients at risk for dementia (decline in memory, thinking and other mental abilities that significantly affects daily functioning) after their stroke so that future treatments may be developed to improve outcomes in stroke patients. For this study, a "stroke" is defined as either (1) an acute ischemic stroke (AIS, or blood clot in the brain), (2) an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH, or bleeding in the brain), (3) or an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH, or bleeding around the brain caused by an abnormal bulge in a blood vessel that bursts).

The investigators hypothesize that:

1. The size, type and location of the stroke play an important role in recovery of thinking and memory abilities after stroke, and pre-existing indicators of brain health further determine the extent of this recovery.
2. Specific stroke events occurring in individuals with underlying genetic or biological risk factors can cause further declines in brain heath, leading to changes in thinking and memory abilities after stroke.
3. Studying thinking and memory alongside brain imaging and blood samples in patients who have had a stroke allows for earlier identification of declining brain health and development of individualized treatment plans to improve patient outcomes in the future.