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Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis Clinical Trials Data presented on Clinical Trials Search is not meant to be a substitute for qualified health advice, visits or treatment with a real mD. We are not doctors. Always consult your doctor about Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis conditions. Clinical Trials Search.org is a site devoted to listing clinical research studies in human subjects. Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis Clinical research trials and Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis healthcare trials happen in many of places across the United States. A clinical trial or clinical study is a research project with human volunteer subjects. Clinical drug trials and pharmaceutical clinical trials generally assess the effectivity of new drugs. The purpose of the studies / projects is to solve particular human medical questions. Clinical trials are a popular way for doctors, government agencies, and private sector companies to discover cures for all varieties of conditions, such as Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis. Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis Clinical Trials and other clinical trials allow volunteers to have health treatment alternatives before they are available to the masses. Some times the human subjects obtain treatment for without cost, and sometimes they are compensated for their time. Occasionally there is a cost for a Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis clinical trial. Test subjects oftentimes receive the most effective healthcare possible for their Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis condition. Dangers are a reality, however, and may include extra or frequent physician visits, healthcare dangers (possibly life-jeopardising), and/or the treatment being uneffective. Trials are federally governed with rigorous guidelines to protect clinical trials patients.
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Home > "B" Clinical Trials Conditions > Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis  Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis
Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis
For Condition: Cysticercosis,Cysts,Seizures
Status: Recruiting
Sponsor(s): National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) ,
Synopsis: This study will examine what causes seizures in patients with cysticercosis (pork tapeworm infection). A better understanding of this could lead to improved methods of controlling or preventing seizures. In humans, the pork tapeworm (Taenia solium) lives in the small intestine. The parasite's microscopic eggs travel around the body-including to the brain-where they develop into cysts. Usually, the cysts don't cause symptoms until they die. Then, they provoke an inflammatory reaction that irritates the brain, causing seizures and other symptoms. The inflammation eventually goes away, but the dead cysts remain. Calcium deposits often form where the cysts are. Some of the calcified cysts develop swelling around them that seem to be associated with the development of seizures. This study will explore how and why these dead, calcified cysts continue to cause seizures. In so doing, it will try to determine: 1) the best diagnostic imaging method for detecting swelling around the cysts; 2) how often swelling occurs; and 3) what makes some cysts prone to swelling and related seizure activity, while others are not. Patients with cysticercosis who have had seizures or who have known or possible swelling around calcified cysts will be studied with various tests, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) scans, electroencephalography (EEG), blood tests, and possibly lumbar puncture. Patients will be studied for two cycles of seizures (during active and quiet periods) or a maximum 4 years.
Details: Seizures are the most common clinical manifestation of cerebral cysticercosis and occur in the presence of viable, dying, and calcified or non-calcified dead cysts. How calcified cysts provoke seizures is not known but recent observations demonstrated edema around some calcified lesions at the time of seizure activity and disappearance during periods when seizures were not occurring. Edema associated with foci in idiopathic epilepsy is highly unusual so that this observation suggests that the mechanism(s) associated with calcified cysts is unique. Documenting and understanding this phenomenon is important for a number of reasons. First, although by definition these lesions are inactive, e.g., not living larvae and do not require anti-parasitic treatment, they are frequently mistaken for active lesions and patients undergo unnecessary treatment. Second, a likely reason for perilesional edema is intermittent antigen release and subsequent host immune response resulting in inflammation and edema. If proved, then the treatment for this would not only involve suppression of seizure activity with anti-seizure medication but also the use of anti-inflammatory medications such as corticosteroids. The present protocol will systematically assess the presence of edema associated with calcified lesions at the time of seizure activity and attempt to determine why some calcified lesions in the same patient are foci of seizures while others are clinically silent. There are three related but separate questions. 1) What is the most sensitive MRI technique that can detect edema around calcified or inactive lesions? It is essential to determine the most sensitive methods initially because the use of insensitive techniques will lead to inaccurate assessments of which lesions are prone to lead to seizure activity and how many patients are affected. 2) How common is perilesional edema around calcified or inactive lesions associated with seizure activity? 3) What factors determine which lesions are prone to cause seizure activity? 4) Can perilesional edema be effectively treated or prevented? 5) Can perilesional edema be treated? We have reported from long term longitudinal studies in a handful of patients that only some of many lesions seem to be associated with seizure activity and edema.
Eligibility:
Study Type: Observational, Natural History
Minimum Age/Maximum Age: /
Genders: Both
Protocol Entry Criteria: INCLUSION CRITERIA: 18 years of age or older. If children are evaluated they can be seen under the general protocol and they may be entered into the present protocol under an exception. Likely diagnosis of inactive cysticercosis and present or past seizure activity. Requires "a" and "b" plus any one of the remaining criteria: a) History of seizures or present seizure activity; b) Previously treated or has inactive disease and declines treatment; c) Single calcified lesions and positive serology; d) Multiple calcified lesions; e) Multiple small enhancing nodular lesions; f) History of cystic lesions responding to specific chemotherapy. If female, not pregnant and using effective birth control methods. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Less than 18 years of age. Pregnant or unwilling to use effective birth control measures. Refuse blood tests. Unwilling or unable to undergo testing according to the schedule. Unable to undergo MRI or CT examinations. Patients who require anesthesia to undergo imaging studies.
Total Enrollment: 150
Location and Contact Information:
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) *Recruiting*
Bethesda, Maryland, 20892
United States
Recruiting Patient and Public Liaison Office 1-800-411-1222
Additional Information:
Study ID Numbers: 990149; 99-I-0149
Study Start Date: August 10, 1999
Record last reviewed: July 29, 2003
Additional information available at: clinicaltrials.gov
Clinicaltrials.gov Reference link: NCT00001912
Other Seizures Studies:
1. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Treatment of Poorly Controlled Partial Epilepsy
2. Human Epilepsy Genetics--Neuronal Migration Disorders Study
3. Ketogenic Diet for Child Epilepsy and Seizure Control
4. Neuropsychological Evaluation of Psychiatric and Neurological Patients
5. Reducing Seizure Frequency Using Cooling of the Head and Neck
Related Studies:
Other Seizures Clinical Trials
Other Maryland Clinical Trials
Other Bethesda Clinical Trials
Brain Tissue Swelling and Seizure Activity in Inactive Cysticercosis
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