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Tropical Spastic ParaparesisNCT00034723

MRI Brain Studies in Patients With HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis

An observational study of Tropical Spastic Paraparesis, run by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

This study will use three different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to study HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/STP)-a disease of slowly progressive weakness in the legs. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Tropical Spastic Paraparesis
How many people
40 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Apr 2002to Mar 2004
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages Any age
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Patients:
  • Established Diagnosis of HAM/TSP as defined by Osame, Igata, and Matsumoto and subsequently confirmed by Gessain and Gout and the WHO.
  • Age 18 or older
  • An initial cohort of 5 HAM/TSP patients with established disease with EDSS levels of 6.0 or greater and duration of disease of 2 years or more will be investigated. If MRI abnormalities can be demonstrated, the group will be expanded to 20. Of this 20, at least 5 patients have been identified that will be HLA A201.
  • Healthy Controls:
  • No history of disease of the nervous system or autoimmune disease
  • Age 18 or older
  • Subjects shall be sex- and age-matched to our patients

Who cannot join

  • A subject will be excluded if he/she has a contraindication to MRI scanning such as the following: Aneurysm clip; Implanted neural stimulator; Implanted cardiac pacemaker or autodefibrillator; Cochlear implant; Ocular foreign body or implant (e.g. metal savings, retinal clips); breast implants; or Insulin pumps. Subjects will be excluded if they have claustrophobia. A pregnancy test will be administered to women of childbearing age. Pregnant women will be excluded from the studies.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

    Bethesda, Maryland, 20892

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: MRI Investigation Of The CNS In HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM/TSP)

This study will use three different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to study HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/STP)-a disease of slowly progressive weakness in the legs. It is not known how the HTLV-1 virus causes this disease, but it is thought that as the body's immune system tries to destroy the virus, parts of the nervous system-primarily the spinal cord-are damaged.

Patients 18 years of age and older with HAM/TSP and healthy normal volunteers may be eligible for this study.

Participants will undergo diffusion tensor MRI, MR-spectroscopy, and magnetization transfer imaging to look at different compositional, architectural, and microscopic properties of the brain. All of these techniques are similar to conventional MRI, and like the conventional method they use a strong magnetic field and radio waves to measure structural and chemical changes in brain tissue. Each of the three scans will be done on separate days, each lasting about 1 hour. For the procedures, the patient or volunteer lies on a stretcher in a narrow metal cylinder (the scanner) and is asked to remain still for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. A special lightweight coil may be placed on the head to enhance the brain images. The subject can communicate with the person doing the scan at all times.

Read the detailed description

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has become an important tool in the diagnosis of inflammatory CNS diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy/Tropical Spastic Paraparesis (HAM-TSP). It is widely used as a marker for disease activity and progression. However, conventional MRI methods are only suitable to study gross anatomical features, such as size and shape of a particular area of the brain; questions regarding intrinsic microstructure and morphologic specificity cannot be addressed. But axonal damage or structural abnormalities even in normal appearing brain tissue may play an important role in the development of irreversible disability. Magnetization Transfer Imaging, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Diffusion Tensor MRI are imaging techniques described to be capable of the detection of such changes. Spectroscopy can detect molecular components in tissue, whereas the Magnetization Transfer Ratio (MTR) allows the measurement of water-macromolecule interactions. Diffusion Tensor MRI (DT-MRI) is an imaging modality that combines features of in vivo anatomical MRI and histopathology: it is an in vivo MRI method that provides information about tissue composition, microstructure, organization and architecture. This is possible because water diffusion properties in tissues, as measured by DT-MRI, are affected by tissue constituents, such as macromolecules, membranes, organelles, as well as by tissue microstructure, architecture and organization. A study comprising Magnetization Transfer-, Spectroscopy- and DT-MRI furnishes important information that cannot be obtained using conventional MRI methods.

Keywords
DTI, MRSI, MTR, NAWN, Fiber-Tract, Normal Control, Healthy Volunteer, HV, HTLV-1 Associated Myelopathy, Tropical Spastic Paraparesis, HAM/TSP
Medical subject headings
Paraparesis, Tropical Spastic

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted2 May 2002 (estimated)
  2. Study startApr 2002
  3. Study completionMar 2004

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Enrolment
40 participants
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT00034723
Sponsor's protocol ID
020180
Other IDs
02-N-0180
Status last verified
Mar 2004
First submitted
1 May 2002
Last updated
4 Mar 2008
Results posted
No

Publications

  • McDonald WI, Compston A, Edan G, Goodkin D, Hartung HP, Lublin FD, McFarland HF, Paty DW, Polman CH, Reingold SC, Sandberg-Wollheim M, Sibley W, Thompson A, van den Noort S, Weinshenker BY, Wolinsky JS. Recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: guidelines from the International Panel on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Ann Neurol. 2001 Jul;50(1):121-7. doi: 10.1002/ana.1032.

    PubMed 11456302
  • Frank JA, McFarland HF. How to participate in a multiple sclerosis clinical trial. Neuroimaging Clin N Am. 2000 Nov;10(4):817-30 ,x.

    PubMed 11359727
  • Gessain A, Gout O. Chronic myelopathy associated with human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). Ann Intern Med. 1992 Dec 1;117(11):933-46. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-117-11-933.

    PubMed 1443956

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Tropical Spastic Paraparesis, run by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Mar 2008. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT00034723, which also lists 3 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Mar 2008.

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