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SpasticityNCT02268461

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) Treatment of Post-Stroke Spasticity

A study testing repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in people with Spasticity, run by University of Minnesota 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

Spasticity is a common complication of stroke affecting quality of life. Spasticity involves exaggerated stretch reflexes that create stiffness in muscles with associated loss of motion and functional control. Traditional treatments involve range of motion, medications, and sometimes surgery. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Spasticity
What is being tested?
repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
Type of treatment
Medical device
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
4 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
Dec 2014to Dec 2016
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

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 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • first-time stroke
  • stroke at least six months prior to onset of study with chronic sequela of spasticity
  • stroke location- either cortical or subcortical
  • stroke type- either hemorrhagic or ischemic
  • stroke hemisphere- either left or right, dominant or non- dominant hemisphere
  • 18 years of age or older
Show all 11Show fewer
  • gender- either male or female
  • ability to follow three-step directions
  • demonstration of 10 degrees of active extension at the metacarpophalangeal joint and wrist of the paretic upper extremity
  • demonstration of consistent resting motor evoked potential from ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres
  • sufficient ambulation or wheelchair mobility to allow subject to present to treatment and testing areas with minimum assist

Who cannot join

  • history of seizure within the past two years
  • inability to follow three-step directions
  • anosognosia
  • moderate to severe receptive aphasia
  • inability to give informed consent
  • premorbid spasticity or neurologic impairment prior to stroke
Show all 13Show fewer
  • co-morbidities impairing upper extremity function such as fracture or deformity
  • indwelling metal or medical devices incompatible with TMS
  • pregnancy
  • bi-hemispheric or multifocal stroke
  • dementia
  • neurolytic injection within the 3 months prior to onset of study or planned neurolytic injection during study period
  • planned vacation or travel during study period

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • University of Minnesota, Clinical and Translational Science Institute

    Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55414

Other trials in United States

About this study

Spasticity is a common complication of stroke affecting quality of life. Spasticity involves exaggerated stretch reflexes that create stiffness in muscles with associated loss of motion and functional control. Traditional treatments involve range of motion, medications, and sometimes surgery. Each of these has its own limitations, which has invited exploration of alternative modes of treatment. One such treatment with the potential to benefit spasticity is repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS).

The purpose of this study is to determine whether patients with upper limb spasticity as a consequence of a chronic stroke can benefit from stimulation of the non-affected hemisphere of the brain with low-frequency (inhibitory) repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), potentially leading to a reduction of spasticity and clinical improvement in upper limb function.

Read the detailed description

The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the efficacy of rTMS versus placebo for spasticity reduction in a cross-over design in 6 people with stroke.

Our research question is: In patients with upper extremity spasticity as a consequence of chronic stroke, does stimulation of the contralesional motor cortex with low-frequency (inhibitory) rTMS lead to reduction of spasticity and thereby clinical improvement in upper extremity function? Our rationale is that the pathophysiology of post-stroke spasticity is primarily driven by ensuant cortical derangement, and further, that this derangement can be mitigated to a clinically meaningful extent by proper utilization of rTMS directed at these foci. Optimized rTMS treatment protocols may even achieve efficacy that surpasses current mainstays of spasticity management.

Patients will be randomly assigned to receive either rTMS or placebo during their first treatment arm and then cross-over to receive the opposite treatment at the second treatment arm. A washout period of one month will occur between treatment arms. Each treatment arm will consist of 3 daily treatment sessions. Participants will present on a Monday for the pre-test assessment, Tuesday-Thursday for the treatment sessions and Friday for the post-test assessment. One treatment session will consist of 600 pulses of 1Hertz rTMS at an intensity of 90% of resting motor threshold (duration 10 minutes) applied to the primary motor area of the contralesional hemisphere. Sham rTMS intensity will be 0% but with a similar sound and scalp sensation. Assessments will be made at each session, and will be conducted at pre-test, post-test, and one-month follow-up. The one month follow-up test will serve as the pretest for the next treatment arm. That is, after follow-up, patients will cross-over to receive the opposite treatment in the same format. Safety has already been demonstrated for our protocol. Data will be analyzed with methods appropriate to a single-subject crossover design (visual analysis, confidence intervals and 2-Standard Deviation bandwidth).

The primary outcome that we will measure is reduction of spasticity at the fingers and wrist. A secondary outcome of interest is functional improvement of the spastic upper limb.

Conditions
Spasticity
Being tested
repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), Sham repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Keywords
Post-Stroke Spasticity
Medical subject headings
Muscle Spasticity

What participants receive

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

  • repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)Device

    Also called Magstim 200^2 Magnetic Stimulator (MODEL 3010-00), Magstim Rapid^2 Magnetic Stimulator (MODE 3004-000)

    The treatment arm will consist of 3 daily treatment sessions. One treatment session in this study with real rTMS will consist of 600 pulses of 1Hertz rTMS at an intensity of 90% of resting motor threshold (duration 10 minutes) applied to the primary motor area of the contralesional hemisphere.

  • Sham repetitive Transcranial Magnetic StimulationDevice

    Sham rTMS utilizes a coil that produces identical noise and tactile sensation to the real coil, but does not emit a magnetic field (0% intensity). Duration and frequency of auditory and tactile stimulation will be identical to the real intervention.

Study groups in NCT02268461
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
rTMS then Sham rTMSActive comparatorrepetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
Receives: Device: repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
Sham rTMS then Real rTMSSham comparatorSham repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Sham rTMS)
Receives: Device: Sham repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

What is being measured

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

  1. Change From Baseline Contralesional Corticospinal Excitability

    Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were measured using surface EMG. The average amplitude of 10 MEPs measured at baseline was compared to the average of 10 MEPs measured at post-test and this difference is recorded as the change in corticospinal excitability. A greater negative value would indicate larger post-test MEPs and increased corticospinal excitability.

    Measured: From Day 1 to Day 5

  2. Change From Baseline Finger Tracking Score

    An electrogoniometer attached to the hand was used to measure index finger movement. Patients tracked a sine wave that ranged from 85% to 15% of their individual max range of motion which does impact the accuracy measure scale. Accuracy of tracking along with the target waveform was assessed on a scale ranging from -100 to 100 (100 being perfect accuracy).

    Measured: From Day 1 to Day 5

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Change in Stroke Impact Scale

    Change from baseline stroke impact scale score The Stroke Impact Scale (SIS) is a standardized self-reported questionnaire used to assess the impact of stoke on an individual's quality of life.

    Scores range from 0-100 with higher scores indicating greater functionality and quality of life.

    Measured: From Day 1 to Day 5

  2. Change From Baseline Resting Motor Threshold

    Average change from baseline resting motor threshold The resting motor threshold (RMT) is the lowest possible stimulator output (% maximal stimulator output) required to reliably elicit a motor evoked potential. A lower RMT would indicate increased corticospinal excitability.

    Measured: From Day 1 to Day 5

Timeline

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

  1. First posted20 Oct 2014 (estimated)
  2. Study startDec 2014
  3. Primary completionOct 2016
  4. Study completionDec 2016

Resources

More details

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

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Masking
Triple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Care provider, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
4 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02268461
Sponsor's protocol ID
1408M53261
Status last verified
Jan 2025
First submitted
9 Sep 2014
Last updated
27 Jan 2025
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes

Publications

  • Carmichael ST, Tatsukawa K, Katsman D, Tsuyuguchi N, Kornblum HI. Evolution of diaschisis in a focal stroke model. Stroke. 2004 Mar;35(3):758-63. doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000117235.11156.55. Epub 2004 Feb 12.

    PubMed 14963280
  • Duque J, Murase N, Celnik P, Hummel F, Harris-Love M, Mazzocchio R, Olivier E, Cohen LG. Intermanual Differences in movement-related interhemispheric inhibition. J Cogn Neurosci. 2007 Feb;19(2):204-13. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2007.19.2.204.

    PubMed 17280510
  • Murase N, Duque J, Mazzocchio R, Cohen LG. Influence of interhemispheric interactions on motor function in chronic stroke. Ann Neurol. 2004 Mar;55(3):400-9. doi: 10.1002/ana.10848.

    PubMed 14991818
  • Kirton A, Chen R, Friefeld S, Gunraj C, Pontigon AM, Deveber G. Contralesional repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for chronic hemiparesis in subcortical paediatric stroke: a randomised trial. Lancet Neurol. 2008 Jun;7(6):507-13. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(08)70096-6. Epub 2008 May 1.

    PubMed 18455961
  • Grefkes C, Nowak DA, Wang LE, Dafotakis M, Eickhoff SB, Fink GR. Modulating cortical connectivity in stroke patients by rTMS assessed with fMRI and dynamic causal modeling. Neuroimage. 2010 Mar;50(1):233-42. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.12.029. Epub 2009 Dec 18.

    PubMed 20005962
  • Burn J, Dennis M, Bamford J, Sandercock P, Wade D, Warlow C. Epileptic seizures after a first stroke: the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project. BMJ. 1997 Dec 13;315(7122):1582-7. doi: 10.1136/bmj.315.7122.1582.

    PubMed 9437276
  • Carey JR, Kimberley TJ, Lewis SM, Auerbach EJ, Dorsey L, Rundquist P, Ugurbil K. Analysis of fMRI and finger tracking training in subjects with chronic stroke. Brain. 2002 Apr;125(Pt 4):773-88. doi: 10.1093/brain/awf091.

    PubMed 11912111
  • Carey JR, Evans CD, Anderson DC, Bhatt E, Nagpal A, Kimberley TJ, Pascual-Leone A. Safety of 6-Hz primed low-frequency rTMS in stroke. Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2008 Mar-Apr;22(2):185-92. doi: 10.1177/1545968307305458. Epub 2007 Sep 17.

    PubMed 17876070
  • Kakuda W, Abo M, Momosaki R, Yokoi A, Fukuda A, Ito H, Tominaga A, Umemori T, Kameda Y. Combined therapeutic application of botulinum toxin type A, low-frequency rTMS, and intensive occupational therapy for post-stroke spastic upper limb hemiparesis. Eur J Phys Rehabil Med. 2012 Mar;48(1):47-55. Epub 2011 Nov 9.

    PubMed 22071503
  • Kakuda W, Abo M, Kobayashi K, Momosaki R, Yokoi A, Fukuda A, Ito H, Tominaga A, Umemori T, Kameda Y. Anti-spastic effect of low-frequency rTMS applied with occupational therapy in post-stroke patients with upper limb hemiparesis. Brain Inj. 2011;25(5):496-502. doi: 10.3109/02699052.2011.559610.

    PubMed 21456998
  • Kakuda W, Abo M, Kobayashi K, Momosaki R, Yokoi A, Fukuda A, Ishikawa A, Ito H, Tominaga A. Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and intensive occupational therapy for poststroke patients with upper limb hemiparesis: preliminary study of a 15-day protocol. Int J Rehabil Res. 2010 Dec;33(4):339-45. doi: 10.1097/MRR.0b013e32833cdf10.

    PubMed 20613547
  • Kirton A, Deveber G, Gunraj C, Chen R. Cortical excitability and interhemispheric inhibition after subcortical pediatric stroke: plastic organization and effects of rTMS. Clin Neurophysiol. 2010 Nov;121(11):1922-9. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2010.04.021.

    PubMed 20537584
  • Kujirai T, Caramia MD, Rothwell JC, Day BL, Thompson PD, Ferbert A, Wroe S, Asselman P, Marsden CD. Corticocortical inhibition in human motor cortex. J Physiol. 1993 Nov;471:501-19. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1993.sp019912.

    PubMed 8120818
  • Liepert J, Storch P, Fritsch A, Weiller C. Motor cortex disinhibition in acute stroke. Clin Neurophysiol. 2000 Apr;111(4):671-6. doi: 10.1016/s1388-2457(99)00312-0.

    PubMed 10727918
  • Mally J, Dinya E. Recovery of motor disability and spasticity in post-stroke after repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Brain Res Bull. 2008 Jul 1;76(4):388-95. doi: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2007.11.019. Epub 2007 Dec 26.

    PubMed 18502315

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in people with Spasticity, run by University of Minnesota 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 11 inclusion and 13 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 27 Jan 2025. 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. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. 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?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 27 Jan 2025). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

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?

Change From Baseline Contralesional Corticospinal Excitability (time frame: From Day 1 to Day 5). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02268461, which also lists 24 linked publications.

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 27 Jan 2025.

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