Improving the Diagnostic Accuracy of Children with DoC (IDeAl DesiRE)

Launched by IRCCS EUGENIO MEDEA · Oct 8, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The IDeAl DesiRE clinical trial is studying how to better diagnose children with severe brain injuries and disorders of consciousness (DoC). Researchers want to compare traditional methods of assessing these children, like certain behavioral scales, with new behaviors called Emergency Markers (E-Markers). E-Markers are specific signs that may show a child has some awareness, and they could help improve diagnosis when used alongside standard assessments. This trial will also focus on very young children under 12 months, who can't be assessed using some of the standard scales, by looking closely at their motor skills and development.

To be eligible for this trial, children must be between 2 months and 25 years old and have suffered a severe brain injury from causes like traumatic incidents or lack of oxygen. They should be in a vegetative state or a minimally conscious state when they enter the study. The trial is currently looking for participants, and families who join can expect to help advance our understanding of brain injuries in children, which could lead to better diagnosis and care in the future.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • suffering from an ABI due to: traumatic brain injury, hypoxic events/anoxia, cerebral infections, cerebrovascular accident;
• • age: 2 months-25.11 years;
• • having a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS; Teasdale \& Jennett, 1974) at injury or onset ≤8);
• • being in vegetative state (VS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) at admission;
• • being in subacute or chronic phase.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • - ABI due to brain tumor or neurodegenerative disease.