MRI in Acute Stroke Timing

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Improved treatment stratification of acute stroke patients using quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• IRAS ID

  217663

• Contact name

  Risto A Kauppinen

• Contact email

  psrak@bristol.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  North Bristol NHS Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 30 days

• Research summary

  When a stroke is caused by a clot (an ischaemic stroke), then a patient may be eligible for “clot busting” therapy (thrombolysis). Currently thrombolysis has been shown to improve patient outcome after a stroke if administered within the first 4.5 hours after stroke onset. Up to 25 % of patients wake up with symptoms of a stroke. This means they have an unknown onset time for their stroke (so called ‘wake up strokes’). With no known onset time, they are ineligible for thrombolysis.
  
  Our aim is to use MR imaging in patients with a known stroke onset time to work out characteristics of particular sequences that would then give us effectively a ‘stroke timer’. Another way to consider this, is that with MR we are trying to work out how much damage has been done to the brain and if any of this damage is still reversible (tissue viability). This has already been done in an animal stroke model. We would then use this data to help estimate the onset time in those patients who had woken up with their symptoms. If we can prove that we can predict time of stroke onset accurately from an MRI scan, we could then consider thrombolysis or other treatments in patients who have woken up with their strokes (this work would form separate research to this study).

  Initially we aim to perform a pilot study of approximately 30 patients who have a known stroke onset time at North Bristol Trust. This would mean that in addition to the normal hyperacute stroke care , if a patient was eligible, they would have a short MRI scan within the first few hours of coming into hospital as well as a follow up MRI scan within the first few days of being in hospital.

• REC name

  Scotland A: Adults with Incapacity only

• REC reference

  16/SS/0223

• Date of REC Opinion

  27 Feb 2017

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion