In August, the InterSurgeon team had the pleasure of speaking with Dr Sara Venturini from the University of Cambridge. Dr Venturini recently made a request on InterSurgeon to find sites for the Planetary Outcomes after IntraCranial Haemorrhage study (PLOT-ICH), a global study looking at variation in patient characteristics, management and short-term outcomes of spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage.
PLOT-ICH is a data prospective, international observational study modelled on previous studies in traumatic brain injury. Dr Venturini is looking for international sites to make a 30 day commitment to collecting a dataset by a small study team. Typically this requires up to 5 people including one medical doctor. Data can be collected by doctors in training, medical students or other healthcare professionals. She offers an authorship in return for data collection. The study is being managed exclusively online including data uploads and study documents. Data is being primarily collected on patients and facility level resources to understand more about site capacity. Typically, this would predominantly include patients who have had strokes or tumours not trauma.
Dr Venturini explains the importance of collecting this data; “Spontaneous intracranial haemorrhages are typically more common in lower and middle income countries and in younger people. It is important to understand what the risk factors are; is it genetic, environmental or life- style risk factors? So far there has been some evidence to suggest that smoke inhalation or dietary intake of fatty food can increase risk. The outcomes of spontaneous intracranial haemorrhage can be quite devastating.”
Six months into their first year, they have started collecting data at the first sites to complete local approvals and study paperwork. Unfortunately, local governance variances mean differing times for local study approvals and in some areas payments are required to receive ethical approvals.
Dr Venturini says; “We are looking for the biggest possible spread of sites, in terms of geography.” They are currently lacking sites in South America, SE Asia and Australasia.
If you are interested in more information, read Dr Venturini’s request, click here.
To see Dr Venturini’s profile, click here.
