Mito Ataxia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding and Investigating Cerebellar Ataxia in Adult Mitochondrial Disease
IRAS ID
268979
Contact name
Yi Shiau Ng
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Cerebellar ataxia develops as the result of damage to the cerebellum, a part of the brain that controls co-ordination and the ability to move.
Patients with cerebellar ataxia often experience problems with poor balance, leading to falls and injuries, as well as speech and swallowing difficulties.Progressive cerebellar ataxia affects two-thirds of adult patients with mitochondrial disease. Patients suffer from repeated falls, impaired quality of life and increased dependency on their family and wider community when symptoms are severe.
This project aims to investigate the severity and progression of cerebellar ataxia in adult patients with mitochondrial disease.
The assessment of cerebellar ataxia will be performed using three different approaches: assessment of signs and symptoms along with questionnaires, analysis of posture and walking and the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
These tests will be performed on participants with mitochondrial disease and also on control participants at baseline. The tests will then be repeated on the participants with mitochondrial disease after 12 months to detect any change in cerebellar ataxia symptoms over this period.
REC name
East Midlands - Nottingham 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EM/0284
Date of REC Opinion
19 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion