Decades of data: can a citywide registry unlock the secrets of stroke and dementia?

NCT ID NCT07771335

Recruiting now Knowledge-focused Sponsor: University of Erlangen-Nürnberg Medical School Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

This trial is taking on new participants right now.

First seen Aug 18, 2026 · Last updated Aug 19, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study is a long-running registry that collects detailed health information from all stroke and dementia patients in Erlangen, Germany. It aims to understand how these diseases develop and affect people over time, regardless of age or severity. Participants are followed for life, with regular check-ins to track their health, disability, and quality of life. The goal is to use this information to improve future care and planning for these common conditions.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.

What this could lead to: If successful, this registry could provide crucial data to guide healthcare planning and improve prevention and treatment strategies for stroke and dementia.
What could go wrong: As an observational registry, it cannot prove cause and effect. Long-term follow-up may be incomplete, and findings may not apply to other regions.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Participants

About 17,000 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Apr 1994

Expected to finish

Mar 2094

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Who is studied

The Erlangen Stroke Project (ESPro) is a community-based survey of all cases of stroke occurring in a university town, located in Bavaria in Southeast Germany. Several overlapping sources of information were used to ensure complete case ascertainment: (1) hospital admission and discharge lists and computer-linked records systems; (2) regular checks of all relevant hospital wards and residential and nursing homes; (3) records of ambulance and emergency services; (4) GPs; and (5) death certificates.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * All cases of stroke defined according to WHO criteria, as "rapidly developing clinical symptoms and/or signs of focal, and at times global, loss of cerebral function, with symptoms lasting more than 24 hours or leading to death, with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin occurring in Erlangen, Bavaria * No restrictions regarding age (provided they are of legal age), socioeconomic circumstance, stroke severity, or prior health status Exclusion Criteria: * Patients with transient episodes lasting less than 24 hours and those with asymptomatic lesions detected by brain imaging ("silent infarcts")

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

cerebral infarction cerebral sinovenous thrombosis intracerebral hemorrhage intracranial thrombosis multi-infarct dementia stroke disorder transient ischemic attack vascular dementia

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

CEREBRAL INFARCTION CEREBRAL INFARCTION DUE TO EMBOLISM OF CEREBRAL ARTERIES CEREBRAL INFARCTION DUE TO THROMBOSIS OF CEREBRAL ARTERIES CEREBRAL VEIN THROMBOSIS INTRACEREBRAL HAEMORRHAGE (ICH) MULTI-INFARCT DEMENTIA STROKE, NOT SPECIFIED AS HAEMORRHAGE OR INFARCTION TRANSIENT CEREBRAL ISCHAEMIC ATTACKS AND RELATED SYNDROMES VASCULAR DEMENTIA (VAD)