ICARUSS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Imaging Carotid Atheroma in the Recovery and Understanding of Severity in Stroke study.
IRAS ID
144963
Contact name
Elizabeth Warburton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
Research summary
This study assesses how the severity of an individual’s stroke and their recovery from it are influenced by the different constituency of fatty deposits (“atheroma“ or “plaques“) in blood vessel walls. The carotid and vertebral arteries are the main blood vessels supplying blood to the brain and it was previously thought that ischaemic strokes (strokes that occur when the blood supply to the brain is blocked, causing part of the brain to die) were entirely related to the degree of narrowing of the artery by atheroma. It is increasingly recognised that the risk of an ischaemic stroke from carotid or vertebral artery disease is associated with the extent of inflammation in the atheroma, rather than simply the degree of vessel narrowing. Research to date has focused on the association with inflammatory atheroma and the probability of stroke. However, there has been little research conducted investigating how the clinical severity and recovery from a stroke is affected by inflammation in the atheroma. In this study we will assess the extent of inflammation in carotid or vertebral artery atheroma by using specialist scan techniques and compare these with clinical measures of stroke severity and recovery at the time of stroke and at three and six months after the stroke. Clinical assessments will include clinical examination and structured interviews (including questionnaires) of lifestyle, memory, mood and daily activities following the stroke. The study will recruit individuals who have had an ischaemic stroke and will follow them over a six month study period. The results will help our understanding of how inflammation in the atheroma affects clinical stroke severity and recovery, as well as potentially identifying new strategies for the treatment of stroke that may provide the basis for future trials.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EM/0128
Date of REC Opinion
23 Apr 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion