title: Clinical Trials in Neurovirology: Successes, Challenges, and Pitfalls.
abstract: Clinical trials in neurovirology illustrate the special challenges confronting investigators planning to study these conditions, as well as the contributions of successful trials in establishing appropriate management for these devastating diseases. This article reviews key examples of progress in neurovirology that have been spurred by clinical trials, emphasizing human herpes virus encephalitis, HIV, and JC virus. Clinical trials in the setting of neurovirological diseases are characterized by specific challenges, which may include small sample sizes, clinical presentations from life-threatening conditions to chronic courses of disease, regional and temporally restricted outbreaks scenarios, and the unavailability of validated diagnostic tests that can be rapidly deployed at the bedside. This review aims to highlight these methodological challenges and pitfalls in designing and executing clinical neurovirology trials, as well as to outline innovative trial designs, which could be useful in addressing common challenges.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Trials Unit, Office of the Clinical Director, NINDS Intramural Research Program, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Rm 6-5700, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA. dietrich.haubenberger@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Dietrich
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Haubenberger
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology and Medicine, Washington University in St Louis, Box 8111, 660 S Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Clifford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D020803:Encephalitis, Herpes Simplex / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007577:JC Virus / Q000502:physiology; D007968:Leukoencephalopathy, Progressive Multifocal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000821:virology
keywords: Clinical trials; ethics; methodology; randomization; statistics