Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT05187000

Effects of Individualized rTMS in DOC Patients

Background: Disorder of consciousness(DOC) is a series of arousal and cognitive disorders secondary to the most severe brain injury. Once a patient is diagnosed with a DOC, a poor prognosis is assumed and the rehabilitation for whom is greatly limited. Therefore, the treatment of DOC poses extraordinary challenges. Various treatments protocols have been reported of successful in promoting rehabilitation of DOC patients. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS), as a non-invasive brain stimulation technique, has shown potentials for consciousness rehabilitation of DOC patients as it is effective in regulating the central nervous system.

Methods and design: This protocol is a double-blind randomized sham-controlled crossover trial. Totally 30 participants will be randomly assigned to either group 1 or group 2 in a 1:1 ratio, with 15 patients in each group. Each patient will received 20 sessions, in which 10 sessions will be active and 10 will be sham, separated by 10-days washout period. The active-rTMS will include 10 Hz rTMS over the individual-targeted area on each participants. Primary and secondary evaluating indicators will be performed at each baseline and after rTMS treatment. Primary outcome will be determined as behavioral response to treatment as measured using the Coma Recovery Scale - Revised (CRS-R). Resting-state high-density EEG will be also recorded to investigate the neurophysiological correlates by rTMS.

Discussion:This study will contribute to define the role of rTMS for the treatment of DOC patients and characterise the neural correlates of its action. The investigators proposed a method of individualized target selection for DOC patients based on the existing gold standard CRS-R score and MRI, and used a cross randomized controlled trial to verify the role of rTMS in DOC treatment.

Recruiting

Interested in participating?

Request Info

Key information

Age range

18 year–70 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Zhujiang Hospital of Southern Medical University

Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510280, China

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Qiuyou Xie, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

+86 139 0301 9604

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • acquired brain injuries less than 1 year and more than 28 days in DOC;
  • clinical diagnosis of DOC Disease;
  • no medical history of neuropsychiatric diseases;
  • no contraindications for rTMS or EEG, no sedatives in use or other drugs that might interfere with brain stimulation, such as Na+ or Ca2+ channel blockers or NMDA receptor antagonists;
  • stable state of disease and vital signs;
  • the families of the patients volunteered the patient to participate in the study and provided signed informed consent;
  • the integrity of the individualized stimulation target cortex are verified by MRI.

Exclusion criteria

  • patients in other non-invasive or invasive neuroregulation trials;
  • motor evoked potential (MEP) in M1 region cannot be induced by TMS pulse;
  • uncontrolled epilepsy, seizure within 4 weeks before enrollment;
  • metallic implant in the skull, pacemaker, craniotomy under the stimulated site, implanted brain device.

Treatment and study plan

individualized repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Device

During the rTMS-active stage, treatment will be given for 10 consecutive sessions (one session daily). The participants will be placed in the semi-reclining position on either a normal chair or a wheelchair and each stimulation session will last 20 minutes with a frequency of 10 Hz (train duration: 1s; inter-train interval: 5s; 200 effective stimulation series; 2000 pulses at 90% of RMT).

Sham repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

Device

The sham coil will be used which has no magnetic field to send to the cerebral cortex while appearing to be the same shape as the active coil, with good approximation of auditory feedback.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from Baseline JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised(CRS-R) for Crossover Study 1

    Time frame: immediately after 10 days individualized rTMS session

    The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised(CRS-R), a total of 23 points, is widely used to define the level of consciousness and assess neurobehavioral recovery of patients with DOC. It is based on six subscales that assess auditory(4 points), visual(5 points), motor(6 points), motor/speech(3 points), communication(2 points), and arousal processes(3 points). Each item of CRS-R is in good agreement with the diagnostic and differential diagnostic criteria of VS/UWS, MCS and EMCS. The higher scores mean a better outcome.

  2. Change from Baseline JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised(CRS-R) for Crossover Study 2

    Time frame: immediately after Washout period

    The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised(CRS-R), a total of 23 points, is widely used to define the level of consciousness and assess neurobehavioral recovery of patients with DOC. It is based on six subscales that assess auditory(4 points), visual(5 points), motor(6 points), motor/speech(3 points), communication(2 points), and arousal processes(3 points). Each item of CRS-R is in good agreement with the diagnostic and differential diagnostic criteria of VS/UWS, MCS and EMCS. The higher scores mean a better outcome.

  3. Change from Baseline JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised(CRS-R) for Crossover Study 3

    Time frame: immediately after 10 days sham rTMS session

    The Coma Recovery Scale-Revised(CRS-R), a total of 23 points, is widely used to define the level of consciousness and assess neurobehavioral recovery of patients with DOC. It is based on six subscales that assess auditory(4 points), visual(5 points), motor(6 points), motor/speech(3 points), communication(2 points), and arousal processes(3 points). Each item of CRS-R is in good agreement with the diagnostic and differential diagnostic criteria of VS/UWS, MCS and EMCS. The higher scores mean a better outcome.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change from Baseline Resting-State EEG for Crossover Study 1

    Time frame: immediately after 10 days individualized rTMS session

    EEG will be acquired from 66 channels with positions of the International 10-20 System for 10 mins. The relative spectral power (RSP) and functional connectivity (FC) of participants will be calculated by the selected artifact-free EEG epochs at five frequency bands: δ (1-4 Hz), θ (4-8 Hz), α (8-13 Hz), β (13-30 Hz), and γ (30-45 Hz). The investigators will compute off-line analysis to calculate RSP and FC.

  2. Change from Baseline Resting-State EEG for Crossover Study 2

    Time frame: immediately after Washout period

    EEG will be acquired from 66 channels with positions of the International 10-20 System for 10 mins. The relative spectral power (RSP) and functional connectivity (FC) of participants will be calculated by the selected artifact-free EEG epochs at five frequency bands: δ (1-4 Hz), θ (4-8 Hz), α (8-13 Hz), β (13-30 Hz), and γ (30-45 Hz). The investigators will compute off-line analysis to calculate RSP and FC.

  3. Change from Baseline Resting-State EEG for Crossover Study 3

    Time frame: immediately after 10 days sham rTMS session

    EEG will be acquired from 66 channels with positions of the International 10-20 System for 10 mins. The relative spectral power (RSP) and functional connectivity (FC) of participants will be calculated by the selected artifact-free EEG epochs at five frequency bands: δ (1-4 Hz), θ (4-8 Hz), α (8-13 Hz), β (13-30 Hz), and γ (30-45 Hz). The investigators will compute off-line analysis to calculate RSP and FC.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Chengwei Xu, BSc

CONTACT

[email protected]

+86 134 5045 7096

Qiuyou Xie, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

+86 139 0301 9604

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Qiuyou Xie

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Effect of Individualized Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in Patients With Disorder of Consciousness

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2025
First posted
Jan 11, 2022
Registry last updated
Jul 26, 2024

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.