Normobaric O2 in Ischemic Stroke

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Breathing high-flow oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure (Normobaric Oxygen Therapy, NBO) may be a simple strategy to sustain ischemic brain tissue ('buy time') until spontaneous or therapeutic reperfusion occurs, and thereby improve stroke outcome. By preventing early ischemic cell death, NBO may be a useful adjunctive therapy that extends the narrow (3-hour) time window for IV tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) therapy. Our recent rodent and pilot human stroke studies provide compelling evidence that early NBO confers potent neuroprotection. While the benefit appears to be transient, similar to that observed in prior hyperbaric oxygen studies, sustained benefit does occur if NBO-treated ischemic tissue is later reperfused. In this proposal (Spotrias Project 1), we aim to extend our preliminary work in a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial enrolling 240 acute (< 9 hours) ischemic stroke patients over 5 years. Patients will receive either NBO or Room Air for 8 hours and undergo serial clincial assessments and CT scans. NBO's therapeutic potential will be assessed in an "intention to treat" statistical analysis of change in NIHSS scores during therapy. The potential synergistic benefit of NBO with reperfusion will be assesed in patients who undergo a baseline and a 24-hour CT-perfusion scan to assess reperfusion, as part of Project 2 (Lev). Other secondary analyses will include an assessment of post-therapy clinical function scores, brain hemorrhage rates, and lesion volume growth on CT scans. In year 1 we will exclude tPA-treated patients and investigate the safety and utility of combined NBO with tPA in embolic (clot-based) rodent stroke models. If the combined therapy appears safe in rodents, and if the year 1 human data raises no safety concerns, we will include tPA-treated patients in the clinical trial of NBO. From these studies we hope to collect preliminary data and gain pilot experience for a future multi-center trial of NBO intiated by EMS at the scene. From a public health standpoint, these studies are significant because they will assess whether breathing high-flow oxygen, a potentially simple, practical, widely accessible, portable, and cost-effective therapy, can improve stroke outcomes either independently or by extending the time window for IV tPA.