Determinants of prognosis in stroke
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determinants of prognosis in stroke; Stroke InvestiGation Network- Understanding Mechanisms (SIGNUM)
IRAS ID
150842
Contact name
Reecha Sofat
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Duration of Study in the UK
10 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Stroke is the third most common cause of death and the most common cause of adult disability world-wide. It is a sudden interruption of blood supply to part of the brain, either due to blockage (ischaemia) or bleeding (haemorrhage), resulting in damage to the brain. The consequence of this will be disability, be it in thinking, movement or speech. Fundamental questions remain unanswered in stroke. First, stroke is still thought of in the broad categories of ischaemia and haemorrhage. However, it is well known that many subtypes exist within these categories. We can now reliably identify these with advanced scanning techniques. We now need to investigate if the biological causes and consequences of these subtypes are different. Understanding this will help us prevent stroke from occurring and help us limit damage at the time of a stroke (therefore limiting disability). The second and related question is addressing recovery from stroke, which is a focus of this project. There may be differences in the way in which different subtypes of stroke recover. Moreover there may be treatments that could be particularly beneficial for one subtype compared to another. We now need to redefine stroke according to subtype, map prognosis and identify time points at which interventions may be most useful to improve disability. In this study we will establish a collection of stroke patients; we will use health information collected as part of routine care on the clinical stroke service. We will follow-up patients to map trajectories of recovery according to stroke subtype. We will then assess factors, both behavioural and blood based, that may affect prognosis of stroke by subtype. If these factors can be manipulated at the right time, either by behaviours or drugs, we may be able to discover and offer new treatments for stroke.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0044
Date of REC Opinion
29 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion