8 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
This purpose of this study is to reduce or stop apneas and bradycardias in pre-term infants, before they occur using gentle stimulation.
Many extremely premature infants, born before 28 weeks' gestation age, require immediate help with breathing after birth. Positive pressure ventilation (PPV) using a device called a T-piece resuscitator is a common method. PPV is needed to establish proper lung function, improve gas exchange, and encourage the infant to breathe spontaneously. However, T-piece resuscitators have limitations, like a lack of visual feedback and variable settings, which may result in reduced effectiveness of PPV. Improving PPV effectiveness may reduce the need for more invasive procedures, such as intubation, which pose an increased risk of complications and death for these fragile infants. A novel approach, that may overcome the above limitations and deliver PPV with precise settings through a nasal mask, is to use a ventilator to deliver PPV (V-PPV) using a respiratory mode called nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV). While NIPPV is commonly used in neonatal intensive care units to support breathing in premature infants, the impact of V-PPV use during immediate post-birth stabilization needs to be studied. Preliminary data from our recent single-center study confirmed the feasibility of using V-PPV for resuscitation of extremely premature babies and indicated its potential superiority with a 28% decrease in the need for intubation compared to historical use of T-piece. This promising innovation may enhance outcomes for these vulnerable infants by refining the way we provide respiratory support in their critical first moments. The research objective is to compare the clinical outcomes of extremely premature infants receiving manual T-piece versus V-PPV during immediate post-birth stabilization. The primary aim is to evaluate the impact of V-PPV on major health complications or death. This study seeks to provide insights into improving the care and outcomes of these infants during a critical stage of transition from fetus to newborn.
A prospective, randomized open-label clinical trial will be conducted from July 2018 to October 2020. Approximately 300 preterm infants will be enrolled across three sites: Duke University Medical Center, the University of North Carolina, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Eligible infants will be randomized 1:1 to receive either 2-month US licensed childhood vaccines (PCV13, DTaP, HBV, IPV an Hib) or no vaccines. After their participation in the study, healthcare providers of the infants in the unvaccinated group will make decision abut receipt of their 2-month childhood vaccines. The study will collect data from the continuous cardiorespiratory and pulse oximetry monitors from randomization to 48 hours after randomization for infants in the unvaccinated group, and from randomization to 48 hours after vaccination for infants in the vaccinated group. Infants in both groups will be monitored for up to 60 hours for the occurrence of apnea, bradycardia, and oxygen desaturation. For infants in the "vaccinated" group, the study will also collect adverse events of clinical interest and serious adverse events occurring between the end of the 48-hour monitoring period and 14 days after vaccination. This information will be collected through parental report and review of medical records.
The study utilizes microEEG (a novel miniaturized, FDA approved EEG device) to prospectively investigate the cerebral electrical activity of infants with Apnea, Bradycardia and Desaturation events. This project will also assess the feasibility of using the microEEG device in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) setting and the feasibility of remote centralized interpretation in this setting.
The purpose of this study is to explore physiological interventions and biomarkers for Apnea of Prematurity in newborn infants.
This research study is being done to investigate the effect of changing an infant's body position on how hard the baby works to breathe, the baby's oxygen level, the baby's carbon dioxide level, the baby's lung volume, the baby's lung compliance (ability of the lung to expand and fill with air), and how frequently the baby develops clinically significant events such as apnea (baby stops breathing on his own), bradycardia (low heart rate), and desaturation (low oxygen) events.
Tracheal intubation in the NICU is frequently complicated by severe oxygen desaturation. Apneic oxygenation, a method of applying free flowing oxygen via nasal cannula to apneic patients undergoing intubation, prevents or delays oxygen desaturation during intubation in adults and older children. We propose to enroll patients at two sites (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) in a randomized trial in infants undergoing intubation in the NICU to determine if apneic oxygenation, compared with no respiratory support or oxygen during laryngoscopy and intubation attempts (standard care), reduces the magnitude of oxygen desaturation during tracheal intubation encounters.
This pilot project will evaluate independently two non-pharmacological interventions, 1) Neurosensory, Environmental Adaptive Technology (NEATCAP) and 2) Stochastic Vibrotactile Stimulation (SVS), as adjuvant non-pharmacological interventions for improving sleep and cardio-respiratory function in hospitalized infants. Within-subject design allows subjects to serve as their own control and receive periods of routine care with and without intervention. One intervention will be evaluated per study session. Infants may participate in up to four sessions.