Clinical trials

Mitochondrial disorders (MDs) are among the most common inherited metabolic diseases, caused by genetic defects in mitochondrial or nuclear DNA that impair cellular energy production. The central nervous system (CNS) is frequently affected, due to its high energy demands. Within the broad clinical spectrum of MDs, mitochondrial leukoencephalopathies (MLs) have emerged as a distinct subgroup characterized by CNS white matter involvement. MLs are clinically and genetically heterogeneous, with onset ranging from infancy to adulthood. Patients may experience episodes of neurological regression, often triggered by stressors such as febrile illnesses, alongside variable motor, cognitive, and occasionally extraneurological involvement. Neuroimaging typically reveals diffuse or focal white matter abnormalities, including cavitation and rarefaction, with additional involvement of deep gray matter structures. Certain ML subtypes exhibit characteristic MRI patterns that may aid in diagnosis. Despite recent advancements in the genetic and neuroradiological characterization of MLs, significant knowledge gaps persist. Although the number of disease-causing genes has increased over the last decades, a comprehensive understanding of genotype-phenotype correlations is still lacking. Additionally, knowledge on the natural history of these disorders is limited. Existing data often focus on imaging findings with insufficient integration of clinical, biochemical, and molecular features, limiting the understanding of disease mechanisms, progression, and therapeutic responses. In light of these gaps, this multicenter, observational, retrospective study aims to systematically collect and analyze clinical, biochemical, neuroradiological, and genetic data from individuals with MLs, assessed at international reference centers for MDs. The study seeks to better elucidate the phenotypic variability and genotype-phenotype correlations of MLs. This work is expected to enhance diagnostic accuracy, inform management strategies, support prognostic counseling, and ultimately contribute to the better overall management of affected individuals

ITACA is a prospective, multicenter, observational longitudinal cohort study conducted in routine clinical practice at six Italian headache centers. Approximately 800 adults with trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (cluster headache, paroxysmal hemicrania, SUNCT, SUNA, or hemicrania continua) diagnosed according to ICHD-3 will be enrolled. The study will describe clinical features and real-world treatment patterns and will evaluate treatment effectiveness and tolerability, changes in clinical features over time, comorbidities, lifestyle factors, patient-reported outcomes, and predictors of treatment response and disease progression. No investigational intervention will be assigned; treatments are prescribed by treating physicians as part of routine clinical care. Participants will be assessed at baseline and during routine follow-up visits, approximately every 3-6 months or as clinically indicated, for up to 3 years. Relevant clinical data already available in medical records before enrollment may also be collected to improve baseline characterization and reconstruction of disease course.

Recent studies suggest that Mindfulness may be an effective treatment for migraine, reducing the frequency of attacks, depression, anxiety and improving quality of life. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the effectiveness are not yet fully known. The identification of neurophysiological markers may help to better understand the mechanisms on which Mindfulness acts in migraine sufferers and to develop increasingly targeted and personalized Mindfulness interventions to optimize migraine treatment. The main objective of the study is to identify neurophysiological indicators of effectiveness of Mindfulness treatment in patients with migraine without high-frequency aura with clinically available devices (MEG and hdEEG). Another goal is to recognize the indicators also in the signal acquired with wearable devices in home use (wEEG). Finally, another goal will be to study the relationship between the identified neurophysiological markers and the change in neuropsychological test scores.

The project aims to retrospectively and prospectively analyze a population of CADASIL patients in order to study the natural history of the disease by correlating the symptom spectrum with genetic risk and specific neuroradiological and biological markers \- Stratifying patients according to their disease risk, this could contribute to the discovery of personalized therapeutic targets.

The study is divided into two phases: Phase 1 (observational) and Phase 2 (dietary intervention). The goal of Phase 1 is to assess the nutritional status and dietary habits of two cohorts of patients with CADASIL and CAA. A specific aim is to evaluate adherence to the Mediterranean Diet. The objectives include analyzing patients' nutritional status, lean and fat mass, basal metabolism, and total energy expenditure. It also aims to assess the relationship between adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and the onset of stroke and cognitive decline, as well as examine stroke severity (ischemic or hemorrhagic) and its association with Mediterranean Diet adherence (MEDAS questionnaire). Additionally, the study will explore the link between diet adherence and cognitive deficits, and measure changes in biological and anthropometric parameters as a result of adopting the Mediterranean Diet. Phase 2 is an interventional dietary study designed to evaluate the effects of the Mediterranean Diet, enriched with either extra virgin olive oil or walnuts, on stroke incidence and cognitive decline in patients with CAA and CADASIL.

The goal of this clinical trial is to obtain initial feedback on the implementation of the STRATIF-AI platform and digital twin in the secondary prevention phase in patients with stroke, Moyamoya disease and Cerebral amyloid angiopathy, including adults of both sexes. The main questions it aims to answer is: how is the patients' experience regarding the use of the STRATIF-AI platform? Researchers will compare Arm 1, who use the STRATIF-AI app in addition to standard secondary prevention, against Arm 2, who receive standard secondary prevention only, to collect feedback regarding the platform usability. Participants in the Arm 1 will: * Complete cognitive and psychological assessments at the time of the first visit and after six months * Follow the indications received from the clinician for standard secondary prevention * Use the STRATIF-AI app daily for health management * Optionally, purchase wearable devices that connect to the app. * Participate in interviews at the six-month mark to share their experiences with the app. Patients in the Arm 2 will: * Complete cognitive and psychological assessments at the time of the first visit and after six months * Follow the indications received from the clinician for standard secondary prevention

The study aims to assess the direct patient-reported perception (PROs) of individuals affected by IDH-mutant, grade 2 gliomas undergoing radiotherapy or pharmacological treatment with vorasidenib. To evaluate quality of life, perception of treatment-related symptoms, and anxiety levels during therapy by comparing patients receiving radiotherapy with those receiving pharmacological treatment with vorasidenib. The control group will consist of patients with IDH-mutant, grade 2 gliomas who are under clinical and radiological follow-up only. To assess the feasibility of using PROMs in routine clinical practice. To analyze patient-reported critical issues in order to qualitatively improve care pathways.

Epilepsy is a clinical condition that affects about fifty million people worldwide, with an estimated occurrence of 16-51 new cases per 100,000 people each year. In 60% of these patients, the origin of seizures is due to a localized (focal) alteration of the brain. In about 25 percent of patients with focal epilepsy, drug treatment is ineffective, a condition defined by the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) as drug-resistant epilepsy ; this condition results in a drastic reduction in quality of life associated with psychosocial dysfunction and an increased risk of sudden death. A possible treatment alternative for drug-resistant patients is ablation of the epileptogenic zone through surgical methods that are effective and safe when patients are carefully selected. The percentage of patients with epilepsy who are completely cured after surgery is about 70% for temporal lobe epilepsies, and can be as high as 90% in the case of some brain malformations. Pre-surgical screening and therapeutic intervention (particularly surgery) have health care costs that are amortized over 2-6 years depending on the procedures required before surgery. In the last decade, moreover, the refinement of noninvasive/mini-invasive methods such as radiosurgery, Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) and laser interstitial thermal therapy (LiTT) have allowed us to hypothesize a possible specific treatment of drug-resistant patients with epileptogenic areas that are difficult to reach with traditional surgery and patients with complex comorbidities for whom the risks of standard resective surgery would outweigh the possible benefits. Finally, there is a subgroup of patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who cannot undergo ablative surgery. In these patients, seizures originate from multiple areas of the brain (multifocal epilepsy) or the epileptogenic area affects functionally eloquent areas. In these cases, alternative functional treatments are proposed, which aim to decrease the frequency and intensity of seizures and the need for medication, such as: i) application of a vagal stimulator, a pulse generator that is implanted in the chest and connected to the vagus nerve, ii) implantation of deep brain stimulation devices, iii) neuromodulation. Therefore, careful selection of patients during the diagnostic/pre-surgical process is crucial. The multimodal assessments under study, proposed in support of clinical practice, aim to improve such selection by analyzing the causative factors of seizures, the location of the epileptogenic zone, and the clinical-epileptological course of patients who are candidates for surgical or functional treatment of epilepsies.

This three-year observational study involves patients of all ages undergoing endovascular treatment for various cerebral or spinal vascular conditions. It aims to assess pre- and post-operative clinical conditions, report complications, and identify preoperative indicators of treatment outcomes. Patients will also receive psychological support and Neuropsychological assessment. Clinical, medical, and demographic data will be recorded in a database during hospitalization and follow-up visits.

The evaluation of neurosurgical outcomes varies from center to center, and the predictive factors that determine these outcomes are not fully known or shared. This study aims to assess outcomes and their predictors using measures agreed upon by the participating centers. Standardizing the evaluation of outcomes and predictors improves the quality of research, allows for data comparison, and facilitates a "common language" in routine clinical practice. Most importantly, it influences therapeutic decisions in various neurosurgical conditions. Clinically, the identified predictors can also be used during preoperative assessments to provide more precise guidance to patients undergoing surgery.

The goal of this prospective open label study is to elucidate the pathophysiology of dystonia and to understand how deep brain stimulation (DBS) influences brain networks. The investigators will enroll patients with dystonia implanted with DBS of the Globus Pallidus internus (GPi) with sensing implantable neurostimulators, capable of measuring GPi local field potentials (LFPs). The main questions it aims to answer are: * does DBS influence pallidal LFPs in the long term? * how the basal-ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuit is modified after DBS? * do LFPs changes correlate with clinical improvement? Participants will undergo to serial clinical evaluations, magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) studies. Primarily, the data obtained from our study might help in clarifying basic pathological electrophysiological features of dystonia. These features might be secondarily used in future to provide a framework for an effective application of closed-loop DBS in Dystonia.

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is one of the major types of cerebral small vessel disease, and a leading cause of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage and cognitive decline in elderly patients. Although increasingly detected, a number of aspects including the pathophysiology, the clinical and neuroradiological phenotype and the disease course are still under investigation. The incomplete knowledge of the disease limits the implementation of evidence based guidelines on patient's clinical management and the development of treatments able to prevent or reduce disease progression. The SENECA (SEarchiNg biomarkErs of Cerebral Angiopathy) project is the first Italian multicentre cohort study aimed at better defining the disease natural history and identifying clinical and neuroradiological markers of disease progression. By a multidisciplinary approach and the collection of a large and well phenotyped series and biorepository of CAA patients, the study is ultimately expected to improve the diagnosis and the knowledge of CAA pathophysiological mechanisms.

The project aims to perform both conventional nerve-conduction studies and axonal-excitability assessments using the TRONDF protocol in patients with selected forms of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, with comparison to individuals affected by dysimmune, acquired neuropathies, specifically chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and anti-MAG-neuropathy. The study further includes the analysis of nerve fibers obtained from skin biopsy in patients with CMT, as well as ultrasound evaluation of nerves (from the wrist to the axilla) and of intrinsic hand muscles. Axonal-excitability techniques involve the delivery of two electrical stimuli to the nerve under investigation; both stimuli vary in intensity, whereas only the first, known as the conditioning stimulus, varies in duration. Changes in response amplitude are then measured as these stimulation parameters are systematically adjusted. Some preliminary studies have already suggested the effectiveness of this method in distinguishing CMT1A from certain forms of acquired demyelinating disease, including acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP) and CIDP. Despite the promising results, only a limited number of studies have so far been conducted in humans and mice, and no comprehensive and systematic study has yet been carried out describing the changes in axonal excitability in the various CMT subtypes, either in humans or in mouse models.

Patients undergoing cranial neurosurgery face a high-risk postoperative period, particularly during emergence from anesthesia and early recovery in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). Standard monitoring provides limited insight into brain and autonomic recovery processes. Heart rate variability (HRV) and processed electroencephalography (pEEG) may offer complementary markers of autonomic and cortical function, with potential to improve early detection of complications and guide individualized care.

Recent research links gut microbiota alterations to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a neurobiological condition with multifactorial bases. In some ASD patients, altered gut flora and increased intestinal permeability are observed, influencing the central nervous system's development and function. Chronic gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are commonly associated with ASD and correlate with its severity. This non-pharmacological interventional clinical study aims to investigate the role of gut microbiota on ASD and the effectiveness of postbiotic-based dietary supplements in children aged 3-8 years old. Gastrointestinal symptoms, behavioral profile and analysis of intestinal metagenomic and metabolomic profiles will be assessed before and after one-month treatment. The results of the study could enhance understanding of non-pharmacological therapeutic approaches in ASD and improve clinical management strategies and the behavioural functioning for children with ASD.

This is an interventional non pharmacological study in pediatric patientis affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder. It ams to create a collection of iPSCs and hiNSCs derived from deeply characterized ASD patients, to omics-characterize the cells, and to study the behavioral pattern of microglia-like cells in the onset of ASD.

This study focuses on rare brain tumors, which are heterogeneous entities with different morphological, biological, and clinical characteristics. Due to their rarity, many of these tumors fall under the RARECARE definition of rare tumors. The main objective of the study is to standardize care models and pathways for patients with rare brain tumors, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to identify specific predictors of postoperative outcomes. The study includes both retrospective and prospective phases, with the collection of clinical, cognitive, and psychological data at various time points. Patients will undergo an early neuro-cognitive rehabilitation program using the RehaCom software, which will be conducted at home. The goal is to improve the quality of life and care for patients through a multidisciplinary and innovative approach.

Cervical dystonia is a condition that causes the neck muscles to tighten or spasm, leading to abnormal head positions and pain. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Do ultrasound-guided BoNT injections improve quality of life more than injections without ultrasound? * Are ultrasound-guided injections as safe as injections without ultrasound? Researchers will compare: * BoNT injections with ultrasound guidance * BoNT injections without ultrasound guidance (based only on body landmarks) Participants will: * Receive both types of injections during the study (one first, then the other) * Complete questionnaires about quality of life, movement, pain, and mood * Attend follow-up visits over about 8 months About 37 adults with cervical dystonia will take part. The study will take place at the Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta in Milan, Italy.

To evaluate the effect of intraoperative sedation dosage on awakening and recovery of consciousness after elective neurosurgical surgery.

This is an observational study in pediatric patientis carryng PTEN pathogenic variants aimed to define oncological risk in children and provide a deeper insight of the clinical course, establishing an updated follow-up protocol.

The aim of the study is to describe the socio-demographic, clinical, psychological, and psychiatric characteristics of patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy eligible for epilepsy surgery and any changes in these parameters over time after surgery. Additionally, the study seeks to describe the levels of quality of life, dissociative experiences, prevalence of various psychiatric symptoms, irritability, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and stigma perception in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy eligible for epilepsy surgery and any changes over time after surgery.

To compare the performance of the Eleveld models for propofol and remifentanil on neurosurgery patients admitted to intensive care with their intraoperative performance.

This study aims to translate and validate the Gastrointestinal Dysfunction Scale for Parkinson's Disease (GIDS-PD) into Italian to enable the assessment of gastrointestinal symptoms in Italian-speaking patients with Parkinson's disease. The psychometric properties of the translated instrument will be evaluated through a multi-phase process involving translation/back-translation, pre-testing, and large-scale validation across multiple Italian centers

The FLUO.CER.TUM study is a prospective observational clinical trial conducted at the IRCCS Foundation Neurological Institute "Carlo Besta" in Milan, Italy. It investigates the intraoperative use of intravenous sodium fluorescein as a fluorescent tracer to assist in the surgical resection of suspected malignant tumors of the central nervous system (CNS). These tumors typically present as contrast-enhancing masses on pre-operative MRI or CT scans. Malignant brain tumors are notoriously difficult to fully resect due to challenges in distinguishing tumor margins from healthy tissue. Sodium fluorescein, a dye that accumulates in areas where the blood-brain barrier is disrupted, offers a promising solution by enhancing tumor visualization during surgery. When used with a dedicated surgical microscope equipped with a fluorescence filter, fluorescein can help surgeons identify and remove more tumor tissue, potentially improving patient outcomes. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of fluorescein-guided surgery in a real-world clinical setting. Approximately 800 patients of any age and gender, with suspected aggressive CNS lesions, will be enrolled. Each patient will receive 5 mg/kg of sodium fluorescein intravenously at the induction of anesthesia. Surgery will be performed using fluorescence-guided techniques, and patients will undergo pre- and post-operative imaging to assess the extent of resection. Clinical and neurological evaluations will also be conducted to monitor outcomes and any adverse effects. The primary objective is to qualitatively assess the intraoperative fluorescence characteristics of CNS tumors. Secondary objectives include measuring the extent of tumor resection, evaluating post-operative neurological function, and documenting any side effects related to fluorescein administration. The study adheres to ethical standards, including informed consent and approval by an ethics committee, and will be conducted in accordance with Good Clinical Practice guidelines and the Declaration of Helsinki. Data will be anonymized and securely stored, with results potentially published following appropriate review and approval.

The overall objective is to define the neuropsychological profile of patients with migraine and evaluate its association with: psychological outcome measures (anxiety-depressive symptoms, pain catastrophizing, excessive worry, and coping strategies); the clinical profile of migraine; the prodromal, ictal, or interictal phase of the migraine attack; pharmacological therapy; and detoxification treatment in patients with migraine associated with medication overuse headache.