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Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular, and Cognitive Function in Spinal Cord Injury

NCT02122991 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 61

Last updated 2018-02-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Increased life expectancy in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) present clinicians with the challenge of managing the secondary complications of SCI with the chronic diseases common in an aging population. Cardiovascular disease, cerebral vascular disease, and cognitive dysfunction are among the primary challenges facing clinicians in the treatment of an aging population. Cognitive dysfunction has been reported in upwards of 60% of the SCI population, which have been primarily attributed to concomitant traumatic brain injury or pre-morbid conditions. Identifying possible modifiable risk factors which contribute to the increased prevalence of cognitive dysfunction in the SCI population is of significant clinical relevance and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders have emerged as possible contributors to the cognitive disorders in the general population. These risk factors include: physical inactivity, chronically low or high blood pressure (BP), reduced blood flow to the brain, arterial stiffening, and impaired nervous system regulation of the cardiovascular system. These risk factors are particularly prominent in the SCI population as they represent a model of profound inactivity, have trouble regulating blood pressure, and suffer impaired cardiovascular regulation from their injury. In addition, we've recently reported deficits in blood flow to the brain at rest and during cognitive tests; with results being further impaired in SCI with chronically low blood pressure. Therefore the goals of this project are to determine the influence of cardiovascular and cerebral vascular responses at rest and during cognitive testing on test performance in 80 individuals with SCI compared to 50 age-matched non-SCI controls. All potential subjects will undergo a rigorous two-part screening process which consists of an initial screening via telephone and a detailed, in-person screening. Eligible subjects will be invited to participate in a 3 hour laboratory visit during which their arterial stiffness, blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and, blood flow to the brain will be monitored at rest and during a comprehensive series of cognitive tests.

We hypothesize that blood pressure and cerebrovascular response to testing will account significantly for performance in cognitive testing that otherwise would have been attributable to SCI status.

Conditions

  • Spinal Cord Injury

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center

    lead FED

Principal Investigators

  • Jill M Wecht, Ed.D. · JJPVAMC

Eligibility

Min Age
30 Years
Max Age
64 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2013-07-31
Primary Completion
2017-08-31
Completion
2017-12-31

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02122991 on ClinicalTrials.gov