Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States. Ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage of blood flow to one or more brain arteries, usually due to a blood clot. As a result there is a reduced supply of oxygen and other nutrients leading to permanent brain damage. Normobaric oxygen therapy (NBO, or high-flow oxygen delivered via a facemask) shows promise as a simple, widely accessible, low-cost therapy that can prevent stroke-related brain damage and extend the time window for administering the clot-busting drug t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator), which is the only acute stroke treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration.~The primary goal of this trial is to compare the safety and therapeutic efficacy of NBO (started within 9 hours of symptom onset) to standard medical treatment with Room Air. We aim to enroll a total of 240 individuals with acute ischemic stroke less than 9 hours after symptom onset, at the Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's Hospitals in Boston. Participants will be randomly selected to receive either room air (RA, control) or NBO (active treatment) at flow rates of 30-45L/min administered via a face mask for 8 hours. Neurological function scores and neuroimaging [magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans] will be obtained before, during, and after therapy until 90 days.~This study is part of the Specialized Program of Translational Research in Acute Stroke (SPOTRIAS), which allows researchers to enhance and initiate translational research that ultimately will benefit individuals with stroke.
The purpose of this study is to compare the safety and efficacy of treating individuals with acute ischemic stroke with normobaric oxygen therapy (NBO, given within 9 hours of symptom onset), to standard medical treatment.