Background: In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented volume of almost 3,000 clinical trials registered worldwide. We aimed to describe the COVID-19 clinical trial research agenda in Germany during the first year of the pandemic. Methods: We identified randomized clinical trials assessing interventions to treat or prevent COVID-19 that were registered in 2020 and recruited or planned to recruit participants in Germany. We requested recruitment information from trial investigators as of April 2021. Results: In 2020, 65 trials were completely (n=27) or partially (n=38) conducted in Germany. Most trials investigated interventions to treat COVID-19 (86.2%; 56/65), in hospitalized patients (67.7%; 44/65), with industry funding (53.8%; 35/65). Few trials were completed (21.5%; 14/65). Overall, 187,179 participants were planned to be recruited (20,696 in Germany), with a median number of 106 German participants per trial (IQR 40 to 345).  From the planned German participants, 13.4%  were recruited (median 15 per trial (IQR 0 to 44). Conclusions: The overall German contribution to the worldwide COVID-19 clinical trial research agenda was modest. Few trials delivered urgently needed evidence. Most trials did not meet recruitment goals. Evaluation and international comparison of the challenges for conducting clinical trials in Germany is needed.

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Introduction: The aim of this cohort study is to assess the outcome of single-level selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) in children and young adults with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) treated at our institution, focusing on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and quality of life (QoL) of patients and their caregivers. Methods: We included consecutive patients undergoing SDR from 2018 to 2020 at our institution. Subjective outcome was measured through PROMs, while functional outcome was measured through baseline characteristics, operative outcome, as well as short- and long-term follow-up. Furthermore, the effect of age at the time of surgery on patient/caregiver satisfaction was analyzed. Results: Seven patients (3 female, 43%) with a median age at surgery of 11.9 years (IQR 8.7-15.5) were included. All patients had a GMFCS score of at least IV before surgery. Five surgeries were palliative and two non-palliative. Based on PROMs, SDR showed very good QoL, and health-related outcome measures for both palliative and non-palliative patients. Patients/caregivers satisfaction was higher for the early subgroup (age ≤ 11) than the late subgroup (age > 11). Functional outcome showed reduced spasticity in both groups. Blood transfusions were never needed, while no CSF leak, infection, or permanent morbidity was seen. Conclusion: Based on PROMs, SDR leads to high satisfaction and improved QoL, especially if done at an early age. Further studies with larger cohorts are necessary to underline and confirm our observations.