Skip to content

Safety Study of Nicardipine to Treat Cerebral Vasospasm

Intraventricular Nicardipine for the Treatment of Cerebral Vasospasm: Prospective Pilot Study

Status
Terminated
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01810302
Enrollment
2
Registered
2013-03-13
Start date
2013-08-31
Completion date
2014-01-31
Last updated
2014-08-29

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cerebral Vasospasm

Keywords

Vasospasm, Subarachnoid hemorrhage, Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, Nicardipine, Intrathecal, SAH, aSAH

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if intrathecal nicardipine is safe for the treatment of cerebral vasospasm.

Detailed description

Subarachnoid hemorrhage accounts for approximately 5% of all strokes and affects 30,000 Americans per year. Poor outcome from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) occurs in 50 to 75% of patients, and this is attributed to secondary ischemia in approximately 30% of patients. This delayed cerebral ischemia has been attributed to the anatomic narrowing of arteries in the cerebral vasculature which occurs following SAH. Because of this relationship between cerebral vasospasm, cerebral ischemia, and poor outcome, there has been significant effort to establish treatments that decrease the incidence of vasospasm after SAH. Currently, medications and hemodynamic maneuvers are used as standard of care for the treatment of vasospasm and to improve outcome after SAH. The calcium channel blocker, nimodipine, is one of the few treatments for vasospasm that has been shown to be of proven benefit. Nicardipine is another calcium channel blocker that has been evaluated in several studies via an intravenous administration route. These studies did show significant improvements in symptomatic and angiographic vasospasm, although a benefit in outcome was not seen. However, the intravenous administration of nicardipine was associated with significant systemic side effects that may have affected outcome including hypotension, pulmonary edema, and azotemia. The administration of nicardipine via an intrathecal route avoids the systemic complications associated with intravenous dosing since the direct cerebrospinal fluid dosing is much lower. The result is that the systemic concentration will remain low avoiding systemic side effects, and central nervous system concentration will remain high. We propose that this difference may improve outcomes while minimizing complication related effects on patient outcomes.

Interventions

Nicardipine hydrochloride 4mg by intrathecal administration twice a day until post-hemorrhage day 10.

DRUGPreservative-free normal saline

Preservative-free normal saline 1.6 mL by intrathecal administration twice a day until post-hemorrhage day 10.

Sponsors

University of Florida
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Male or female 18 years of age and older * Subarachnoid hemorrhage documented on head CT * Fisher Grade 3 or 4 * Hunt Hess Grade 1-5 * Cerebral aneurysm as definitive source of subarachnoid hemorrhage * Cerebral aneurysm must be treated via open or endovascular techniques * Presence of external ventricular drain * Written informed consent obtained from subject or subject's legally authorized representative

Exclusion criteria

* Absence or inability to have an external ventricular drain (coagulopathy) * Non-aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (perimesencephalic) * Untreated cerebral aneurysm * Inability to be randomized prior to post-hemorrhage day 4 * Elevated intra-cranial pressures that would preclude external ventricular drain clamping for 30-60 minutes * Inability to administer study medication (severe intra-ventricular hemorrhage, occluded external ventricular drain) * Inability to obtain angiography (coagulopathy, renal failure) * Pregnant * Presence of a condition or abnormality that in the opinion of the Investigator would compromise the safety of the patient or the quality of the data

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
Number of Participants With Bacterial Meningitis.Day 1 of study drug until post-hemorrhage day 10.

Secondary

MeasureTime frame
Number of Participants With Cerebral Vasospasm.Day 1 of study drug until post-hemorrhage day 10.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Nicardipine Hydrochloride
Nicardipine hydrochloride 4mg by intrathecal administration twice a day until post-hemorrhage day 10. Nicardipine hydrochloride: Nicardipine hydrochloride 4mg by intrathecal administration twice a day until post-hemorrhage day 10.
1
Preservative-free Normal Saline
Preservative-free normal saline 1.6 mL by intrathecal administration twice a day until post-hemorrhage day 10. Preservative-free normal saline: Preservative-free normal saline 1.6 mL by intrathecal administration twice a day until post-hemorrhage day 10.
1
Total2

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall StudyDeath10
Overall StudyPhysician Decision01

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicNicardipine HydrochloridePreservative-free Normal SalineTotal
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
1 Participants0 Participants1 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
0 Participants1 Participants1 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
1 participants1 participants2 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
1 Participants1 Participants2 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
1 / 11 / 1
serious
Total, serious adverse events
1 / 10 / 1

Outcome results

Primary

Number of Participants With Bacterial Meningitis.

Time frame: Day 1 of study drug until post-hemorrhage day 10.

Population: Number of participants were not sufficient to perform data analysis.

Secondary

Number of Participants With Cerebral Vasospasm.

Time frame: Day 1 of study drug until post-hemorrhage day 10.

Population: Number of participants were not sufficient to perform data analysis.

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026