Guanfacine for the Treatment of Spatial Neglect and Impaired Vigilance

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2014-03-28
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

To find out if spatial neglect following stroke and brain injury can be reduced using guanfacine, a drug that was shown to improve neglect in two stroke patients in a previous pilot study (Malhotra et al, 2006). In this trial, the effects of guanfacine will be examined in a larger number of patients, and there will also be a systematic assessment of whether the drug is only effective in patients with particular patterns of brain damage.

• Phase: Phase 2
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: No

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Imperial College London
• Collaborator: Wellcome Trust
• Treatments: Guanfacine

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 or more

• Greater than 2 weeks following stroke

• Ability to give consent

• Evidence of robust Visual Neglect when tested twice with cancellation tasks.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 2 weeks following stroke

• Concomitant illness that may affect interpretation of any findings

• Labile blood pressure following stroke

• Systolic BP less than 100 mmHg and / or diastolic less than 70 mmHg

• New antihypertensive medication started within last 3 weeks

• Patients with hepatic or renal dysfunction

• Patients receiving other medications known to potentiate guanfacine's antihypertensive and hypotensive effects or cause torsade de pointes, specifically antipsychotics (including sultopride, chlorpromazine, thioridazine, amisulpiride, sulpiride, haloperidol), and moxifloxacin, baclofen, verapamil, quinidine, hydroquinidine, dispyramide, amiodarone, dofetilide, ibutilide, sotalol, pimozide, bepridil, cisapride, diphemanil, erythromycin IV, halofantrine, pentamidine, sparfloxacin, vincamine, alfuzosin, prazosin, terazosin, tamsulosin, amifostine

• Patients with diagnosis of brain tumour

• Patients with weight less than 55kg

• Patients who are pregnant

• Mothers who are breast feeding

• Patients with severe coronary insufficiency or myocardial infarction in previous 6 months

• Cognitive impairment, dysphasia or dementia that prevents patient from giving informed consent

• Severe mental impairment or physical handicap following stroke that prevents patients from giving consent or performing basic (standard clinical) tests for neglect