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Duchenne Muscular DystrophyQEDNCT01491555

Electrical Impedance Myography and Ultrasound as Biomarkers of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

An observational study of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, run by Boston Children's Hospital at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston Neurology Department invite children to participate in a new research study. Researchers are looking for boys ages 2 - 30 with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and healthy boys ages 2 - 30 (without any nerve or muscle concerns) to serve as controls. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 2 to 30 years, men onlyHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
How many people
73 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Apr 2012to Sep 2015
Phase
Observational
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 2 to 30 years
  • Men only
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult

Study population: This study will involve boys with DMD and healthy male controls.

Who may be able to join

  • Genetically or histologically established diagnosis of DMD
  • Male, age 2 - 30
  • 1. Male, age 2 - 30

Who cannot join

  • Presence of implanted pacemaker or other electrical device
  • Presence of a superimposed neuromuscular or other medical condition that substantially impacts the individual's health
  • Presence or past history of a neuromuscular disorder or other disease that substantially impacts health
  • Presence of implanted pacemaker or other electrical device.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Children's Hospital Boston

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02115

Other trials in United States

About this study

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston Neurology Department invite children to participate in a new research study. Researchers are looking for boys ages 2 - 30 with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) and healthy boys ages 2 - 30 (without any nerve or muscle concerns) to serve as controls. The study is evaluating a new technique that will test nerve and muscle function. The testing is all pain free.

Children participating in the study will come in for 10 visits over two years. Visits will take place every month at first, then less often for the remaining visits. The tests for the study itself take approximately 2hours. If participants are interested or would like to learn more about the study, please call Lavanya Madabusi at 617-919-3554 or Lavanya.Madabusi@childrens.harvard.edu. All inquiries will be kept strictly confidential.

Read the detailed description

Characterized by progressive disability leading to death, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) remains one of the most common and devastating neuromuscular disorders of childhood. Although a variety of promising new treatment strategies are in development, outcome measures for clinical trials remain limited for the most part to a set of functional measures, such as the six-minute walk test. While clearly useful, such measures are impacted by unrelated factors, such as mood and effort, and have limited repeatability. To address this and other limitations, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now being investigated as a surrogate measure. However, more easily applied, cost-effective, office-based surrogate measures that provide high repeatability and sensitivity while still correlating strongly to disease status would find wider use in Phase II and possibly in Phase III clinical trials in DMD. Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and electrical impedance myography (EIM) are two techniques that could serve in this role. In QUS, muscle pathology (fibrosis and fatty infiltration) in DMD results in an increase in energy reflected back (backscatter) to the ultrasound. The amount of backscatter can be measured directly by analyzing the raw frequency-based acoustic data or indirectly by controlled processing of the gray-scale image. EIM, in contrast, relies upon the application of localized electrical current and measurement of the resulting surface voltages, but is similarly impacted by the fibrotic changes that develop as muscle disease progresses. Here, the investigators propose to evaluate and compare both methodologies simultaneously in a group of DMD patients and normal subjects in order to assess their ability to identify clinically meaningful alterations in muscle health over short intervals of time. As a final exploratory analysis, the investigators will also study the possibility of combining the two modalities. The results of this work will have broad application as they could be applied to a variety of neuromuscular conditions, including other muscular dystrophies. Thus, the hypothesis of this proposal is that both QUS and EIM can serve as convenient, non-invasive, clinically meaningful surrogate markers of disease progression in DMD that surpass the functional measures currently in use.

Keywords
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, DMD, controls, EIM, QUS
Medical subject headings
Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

Study groups in NCT01491555
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
DMD patients35 boys ages 2 through 30 with DMD
Control Group35 healthy boys ages 2 through 30

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. The rate of decline of DMD patients versus normal subjects as assessed by EIM and quantitative ultrasound

    With the successful completion of this aim, the investigators will establish that alterations in both EIM and QUS provide meaningful surrogate measures of disease progression in DMD.

    Measured: up to 45 months

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. The rate of decline of DMD patients versus normal subjects as assessed by handheld dynamometry, 6-minute walk, and other functional tests.

    With the successful completion of this aim, the investigators will establish that alterations in functional assessments may provide additional meaningful surrogate measures of disease progression in DMD.

    Measured: up to 45 months

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted14 Dec 2011 (estimated)
  2. Study startApr 2012
  3. Primary completionSep 2015
  4. Study completionSep 2015

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Observational
Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrolment
73 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT01491555
Sponsor's protocol ID
IRB-P00001218
Acronym
QED
Status last verified
Mar 2016
First submitted
5 Dec 2011
Last updated
24 Mar 2016
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
Individual data sharing
Undecided

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

An observational study of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, run by Boston Children's Hospital at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 4 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 24 Mar 2016. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

The rate of decline of DMD patients versus normal subjects as assessed by EIM and quantitative ultrasound (time frame: up to 45 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 24 Mar 2016.

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