Acupuncture for Stroke Recovery

Stopped early · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Systematic Acupuncture

In brief

Based on the evidence, a pre-post test pilot study design will be implemented to clarify the benefits of an acupuncture intervention before and after treatment. The initial assessment will contain a brief demographic interview and a review of medical records, and both pre and post-intervention evaluations will comprise an imaging protocol that includes RS-fMRI, pCASL, diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), and a brief cognitive assessment, as described in greater detail below. Several quantitative measures within DMN regions will be generated and compared between pre- and post-acupuncture therapy. These include 1) RS-fMRI measures such as connectivity strength and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF); 2) regional CBF measured with pCASL; 3) water diffusion measures for microstructural changes with DKI.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02926378

Run by

NYU Langone Health

People needed

3

Starts

2016-11-18

Expected to finish

2017-06-28

Last updated by the study team

2020-02-17

Who can join

Age: 20 and older, up to 60. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Participants must have experienced a left Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) at least one year prior to study participation and the injury timeframe is 1-10 years post stroke
• Be able to participate in the cognitive testing that has been validated with English-speaking samples
• Be right hand dominant
• Have an educational level between 14-18 years
• Evidence history of cognitive decline post-stroke without significant impairment
• Have adequate vision, hearing, communication, and motor skills

You may not qualify if…

• Evidence cognitive impairment that would negatively impact capacity to understand and participate in this study
• Be participating in active therapeutic treatments that may independently improve cognitive function
• Have had a change in medication over two weeks before the start of study procedures or through the study protocol
• Have contraindications for acupuncture or MRI.
• Contraindications to fMRI include:
• having a pacemaker, defibrillator or wires other than sternal wires.
• Metallic foreign body in the eye - these might move or heat during scanning resulting in serious eye injury.
• Deep brain stimulator
• Swan-Ganz catheter
• Bullets or gunshot pellets - near great vessels or vital organs, such as the lungs, heart or brain,
• Cerebral aneurysm clips - if magnetic, can move. Also not scanned if type unknown.
• Cochlear implant - malfunction.
• Magnetic dental implants - loss of magnetic hold to keep the implant in place.
• Certain Drug infusion devices
• Main contraindications for acupcunture in this study include: Pregnancy, IV anticoagulant therapy, uncontrolled coagulation blood disorders like haemophilia, malignant tumors, and fear of needles.

Where it is running

• New York University School of Medicine — New York, New York, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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