Clinical Research: Stroke Prevention and Management

At the Massachusetts General Hospital Fireman Vascular Center, our world-renowned research advances patient care in the field of stroke.

Advancing Stroke Prevention and Treatment

Clinical research in the Stroke Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fireman Vascular Center combines leading research with patient care to develop innovative options to prevent and treat stroke.

View a sample of our clinical research below. 

Brain Aneurysm and AVM Program

Investigation of Cortical Spreading Depolarizations in Patients with Acute Brain Injury

• Description of study: This is a pilot study on the role of cortical spreading depolarizations in delayed deterioration after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, malignant hemispheric stroke, and traumatic brain injury.
• Study type: Clinical Study 
• Principal Investigator: Eric Rosenthal, MD

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Intracranial Cerebrovascular Disease

Stroke Hyperglycemia Insulin Network Effort

• Description of study:The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy and provide further safety data on the use of insulin infusion therapy for intensive glucose control in hyperglycemic acute ischemic stroke patients.
• Study type: Clinical Study
  Principal Investigator: Chris Anderson, MD

Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage: A Phase III Randomized Multicenter Clinical Trial of Blood Pressure Reduction for Hypertension in Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage

• Description of study: This is a clinical trial aiming to determine the therapeutic benefit of intensive systolic blood pressure treatment compared with standard SBP treatment in reducing death and disability among subjects with spontaneous ICH. 
• Study type: Clinical Study 
• Principal Investigator: Joshua Goldstein, MD, PhD

Study of Deferoxamine Mesylate in Intracerebral Hemorrhage

• Description of study: This is a randomized, double-blind, phase II clinical trial evaluating outcomes of patients with ICH when randomized to receive deferoxamine or placebo within 24 hours of symptom onset.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Joshua Goldstein, MD, PhD 

Transcranial Ultrasound Imaging for The Evaluation of Hematoma Expansion and Neurologic Deterioration in Patients with Acute Intracerebral Hemorrhage

• Description of study: This is an observational study aiming to validate transcranial color-coded sonography (TCCS) as an accurate tool for measurement of intracerebral hematoma volume in the first 48 hours after last seen well.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Joshua Goldstein, MD, PhD

Advanced Neuroimaging to Detect Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

• Description of study: This is a longitudinal study enrolling probable CAA patients and utilizing MRI and PiB-PET imaging, gait testing and neurocognitive assessments to investigate changes in the brain and cognition over time. 
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Steve Greenberg, MD, PhD

Measurement of Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

• Description of study: Measuring biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with probable CAA collected through clinical or research lumbar puncture.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Steve Greenberg, MD, PhD

Stroke Database/Research Registries

• Description of study:The stroke registries serve as databases of information on all ischemic strokes, TIAS and hemorrhagic strokes admitted to MGH.
• Study type: Clinical Study 
• Principal Investigator: Steve Greenberg, MD, PhD

Acute Brain Injury Tissue Repository

• Description of study: This is a repository collecting and storing DNA, plasma, serum, urine, CSF, and relevant medical information from adults with multiple forms of acute brain injury including stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: W. Taylor Kimberly MD, PhD

Glyburide Advantage in Malignant Edema and Stroke

• Description of study: This is a randomized, multi-center, prospective, double blind, Phase II trial of RP-1127 (Glyburide for Injection) in patients with severe anterior circulation ischemic stroke who are likely to develop malignant edema. Aims to assess the safety and efficacy of RP-1127 compared to placebo.
• Study type: Clinical Study 
• Principal Investigator: W. Taylor, Kimberly MD, PhD

Ethnic/Racial Variations of Intracerebral Hemorrhage

• Description of study: This is a case-control genetic hemorrhagic stroke study, which aims to identify environmental/genetic risk factors in ICH among African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians.f
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Jonathan Rosand, MD, MSc

Genetics of Cerebral Hemorrhage with Anticoagulation

• Description of study: Case-control genetics study enrolling acute ICH patients and CAA cases. Aims include identifying genetic and molecular determinants of ICH/CAA, endpoints being ICH recovery and ICH recurrence.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Jonathan Rosand, MD, MSc

Monitoring of cerebral blood volume and oxygenation with time-domain near-infrared spectroscopy in traumatic brain injury and stroke patients

• Description of study: Near-infrared spectroscopy for non-invasive identification of acute ischemic stroke and traumatic brain injuries.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Eric Rosenthal, MD

A multi-center, Phase 2, dose-escalation study to determine the safety and tolerability of 3K3A-APC, a recombinant variant of human activated protein C (APC), in combination with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in moderately severe acute hemispheric ischemic stroke.

• Description of study: Randomized, phase II trial to evaluate the outcomes of acute ischemic stroke patients who receive tPA by randomizing to 3K3A-APC or placebo.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: 

Genes Affecting Stroke Risk and Outcome Study

• Description of study: A genetic study enrolling ischemic stroke/TIA patients. Goal is to identify genes that are associated with stroke risk/outcome.   
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Natalia Rost, MD, MPH

Specialized Program of Translational Research in Acute Stroke (SPOTRIAS) Sample Repository

• Description of study:
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Natalia Rost, MD, MPH

Statins Augment Small Vessel Function and Improve Outcomes in Acute Ischemic Strokes

• Description of study: An observational study enrolling acute ischemic stroke patients with advanced white matter hypertensity to assess influence of pre-stroke statin use on microvascular dysfunction, ischemic tissue fate and functional outcomes.

• Study type: Clinical Study

• Principal Investigator: Natalia Rost, MD, MPH

MR WITNESS: A Phase IIa Safety Study of Intravenous Thrombolysis with Alteplase in MRI-Selected Patients

• Description of study: Study involving administration of intravenous rt-PA to patients with unwitnessed stroke onset, who are otherwise eligible for tPA therapy, using MRI as a surrogate for determining time of stroke onset. 
• Study type:  Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Lee H. Schwamm, MD

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Stroke Prevention and Management

Investigation of flow altered, short transcervical carotid artery stenting in patients with significant carotid artery disease with filter (The ROADSTER Plus Study)

• Description of study:A clinical research trial studying the outcomes of cerebral embolic protection during angioplasty and stenting of the carotid arteries.  The MICHI NPS+f in conjunction with carotid artery stents approved for revascularization in patients with carotid disease are used in this study.  This treatment is an alternative for patients who are considered high-risk for surgery.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Richard Cambria, MD

Advanced MRI Neural Network Analysis for Predicting Recovery of Consciousness after Traumatic Coma

• Description of study: This is a imaging study enrolling patients with severe TBI. Primary aim is to determine if advanced structural/functional neuroimaging data acquired acutely will predict recovery of consciousness 6 months post-injury. Secondary aims include correlation of clinical, MRI, EEG, and genetic/metabolomic data.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Brian Edlow, MD

BrainGate2: Feasibility Study of an Intracortical Neural Interface System for Persons With Tetraplegia

• Description of study: This is a feasibility study of an intracortical neural interface system for persons with tetraplegia.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Leigh Hochberg, MD, PhD

Discarded carotid and femoral specimens after endarterectomy

• Description of study: We will study femoral and carotid endarterectomy specimens for imaging and histology analysis.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Farouc Jaffer, MD, Ph

Clinical Proteomics Research on the Brain

• Description of study: The purpose of this study is to identify neuroprotective proteins in patients with acute brain injuries including stroke, and neurological or vascular conditions other than acute stroke.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: MingMing Ning, MD

An Open-label Study to Evaluate the Safety, Efficacy, and Pharmacokinetics of SAGE-547 Injection as Adjunctive Therapy in the Treatment of Adults with Super-Refractory Status Epilepticus

• Description of study: This is an open-label study to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of 5-day infusion of SAGE-547 (allopregnanolone) in subjects with super-refractory status epilepticus (SRSE).
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Eric Rosenthal, MD

Platelet-Oriented Inhibition in New TIA and minor ischemic stroke (POINT) Trial

• Description of study: Study aims to investigate whether taking a combination of aspirin and Plavix can help lower risk of stroke, MI, and other complications on the recovery of a patient who experienced a TIA or minor ischemic stroke.
• Study type: Clinical Study
• Principal Investigator: Scott B. Silverman, MD

Multimodal Outcome Characterization (MOCHA) in Comatose Cardiac Arrest Patients

• Description of study: A pilot study to evaluate the combination of pictures of the brain with recordings of electrical signals from the brain to understand brain recovery of patients who are in coma after cardiac arrest and who are treated with cooling.
  Study type: Clinical Study
  Principal Investigator: Ona Wu, PhD