Safety Study of Dantrolene to Treat Cerebral Vasospasm After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2009-10-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating acute brain injury due to bleeding onto the
brain surface from a ruptured aneurysm. Cerebral vasospasm (cVSP; critical narrowing of brain
arteries) is a known complication after SAH and significantly increases disability and death
after SAH. Vasospasm is difficult to treat and can lead to stroke. Animal studies have shown
that the muscles in the artery wall play a role in cVSP.
Dantrolene has been FDA approved and extensively used in clinical practice as a muscle
relaxant for more than 30 years. It has been shown to provide some benefit in animal studies
of cVSP, as well as in a small number of humans. Therefore, we plan to undertake this study
to evaluate the safety and tolerability of treatment with dantrolene in patients with cVSP
after SAH, and to determine the maximal tolerated dose to be used in future studies to
determine if treatment with Dantrolene can improve the outcome of patients with cVSP after
SAH.