Tests escitalopram with speech therapy for language loss after stroke
Tests escitalopram plus speech therapy in adults with language loss after stroke.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Escitalopram and Language Intervention for Subacute Aphasia
Key facts
- Where
- Baltimore, Charleston, and Columbia, United StatesSee the 3 sites
- Phase
- Phase 2
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 99 years old?
Source: NCT03843463, who can take part
Where in United States
- Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimore, United StatesTaking people
- Medical University of South CarolinaCharleston, United StatesTaking people
- University of South CarolinaColumbia, United StatesTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Johns Hopkins University
- Trial code
- NCT03843463
- Record updated
- 3 September 2026
- Original description
In this project, the investigators will investigate the effects of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), escitalopram, on augmenting language therapy effectiveness, as measured by naming untrained pictures and describing pictures, in individuals with aphasia in the acute and subacute post stroke period (i.e., within three months post stroke).Read full original descriptionShow less
Escitalopram and Language Intervention for Subacute Aphasia (ELISA)
In this project, the investigators will investigate the effects of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), escitalopram, on augmenting language therapy effectiveness, as measured by naming untrained pictures and describing pictures, in individuals with aphasia in the acute and subacute post stroke period (i.e., within three months post stroke).
Inclusion: Participants must have sustained an acute ischemic left hemisphere stroke; Participants must be fluent speakers of English by self-report; Participants must be capable of giving informed consent or indicating a legally authorized representative to provide informed consent; Participants must be age 18 or older; Participants must be within 5 days of onset of stroke; Participants must be pre-morbidly right-handed by self-report; Participants must have an aphasia diagnosis as confirmed by the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (Aphasia Quotient < 93.8).
Exclusion: Previous neurological disease affecting the brain including previous symptomatic stroke; Diagnosis of schizophrenia, autism, or other psychiatric or neurological condition that affects naming/language; Use of any medication approved by the FDA for treatment of depression at the time of stroke onset; Pregnancy at the time of stroke or planning to become pregnant during the study term; A history of additional risk factors for torsades de pointes (TdP; e.g., heart failure, hypokalemia, family history of Long QT Syndrome); Concomitant use of any monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) or pimozide, or other drugs that prolong the QT/QTc interval, triptans (and other 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptor Agonists), or other contraindications to escitalopram that may be identified; A QTc greater than 450 milliseconds on electrocardiogram or evidence of hyponatremia (Na < 130) at baseline; Current severe depression, defined as a score of > 15 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9); Uncorrected visual loss or hearing loss by self-report.