Teens with POTS: is a brain wiring issue behind the symptoms?
NCT ID NCT05618054
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at how the brains of young people with Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) process what they see. Researchers will use brain scans to compare brain activity in teens with POTS and healthy teens. The goal is to learn more about how different parts of the brain communicate, which may help doctors better understand the condition.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 36 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Mar 2023
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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.
- Ages
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12 to 21 years
- Sex
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Female participants only
- Healthy volunteers
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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Females 12-21 years old * Able to communicate and provide consent/assent * English speaking * Diagnosed with POTS (POTS will be defined standardly as a symptomatic ≥ 40 bpm rise in heart rate without a drop in blood pressure and with symptoms of orthostatic intolerance clinically) * Age-matched healthy control subjects: no POTS or other neurological disorders Exclusion Criteria: * Inflammatory arthritis, connective tissue or auto-immune disorder * Any chronic neurological disorder besides POTS * Evidence of unstable medical disorder, such as kidney (rising creatinine, or end-stage renal failure) or liver impairment (rising AST or ALT, or end-stage with coagulopathy), poorly controlled significant cardiovascular (CHF), respiratory, endocrine (diabetes - A1c \> 9 - or untreated thyroid dysfunction) or uncontrolled psychiatric illness (such as untreated depression, psychosis, etc.) * Neuropathy, central nervous system disorder (e.g., Cerebral palsy, developmental delay, seizure disorder, MS, stroke, etc.) * Treatment with a drug or medical device within the previous 30 days that has not received regulatory approval * Use of hormones (except insulin, thyroid replacement or oral contraceptives, which will be carefully documented) * Current substance or alcohol abuse * Any major surgical intervention with general anesthesia in the last 60 days and minor procedure, such as tooth extraction, endoscopy, etc., with local or conscious sedation within 7 days * Any on-going or pending medical, health or disability related litigation, or current pursuit of disability * Any condition that in the judgment of the investigator would interfere with the patient's ability to provide informed consent, comply with study instructions, place the patient at increased risk, or which would clearly confound the interpretation of the study results (specific reason will be documented) * Chronic use of narcotics for pain * Claustrophobia or any metal hardware that may interfere with MRI * Investigators and study staff
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Virginia Commonwealth University
RECRUITINGRichmond, Virginia, 23298, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Could antibodies be behind POTS? new study investigates
- Could POTS be an autoimmune disease? new study tests nerve stimulation as a treatment
- Could a blood pressure pill calm racing hearts in POTS?
- POTS patients may get relief from blood pressure drug, early study hints