17 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The primary purpose of this study is to serve as a pilot study of the EFIL device treatment feasibility of IVH grades 3,4 to guide development of a larger trial. Primary outcomes will assess the following: safety of intervention, recruitment and consent process, acceptability of intervention by parents, retention rates, selection of most appropriate outcome measures, provide sample size estimates for a larger trial, increase the researchers\' experience with the study intervention. A complete list of objectives and aims are listed under "Objectives". This study hopes to treat 12-24 neonates using 650nm light of irradiance 10mW/cm2 for 5 minutes twice a day each day for 12 days. We will also call the parents at 6 months and 12 months to track developmental milestones.
Very preterm infants are prone to numerous medical complications with lifelong impact. Amongst the most serious are significant intraventricular hemorrhage (sIVH) and the subsequent progression to posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH). Currently, the only treatment for PHH is surgery, most commonly with shunts that are prone to malfunction across the lifespan. Preclinical data show that melatonin (MLT) and erythropoietin (EPO), when administered in a sustained dosing regimen, can prevent the hallmarks of progression from early postnatal sIVH to subsequent PHH. The investigators will perform a Phase I, single institution, randomized, double-blind trial for very preterm infants with sIVH to define a safe combination dose of MLT and EPO. A maximum of 60 very preterm neonates with sIVH will be enrolled, treated through 33w6/7d, and followed to 37w6/7d. Neonates will be randomized 3:1 between MLT+EPO and placebo, with all receiving standard of care. The primary endpoint is a composite serious adverse event (SAE)/dose limiting toxicity (DLT). The investigators hypothesize that the MLT+EPO SAE/DLT rate will not be higher than the placebo rate. Secondary outcomes will be rate of co-morbidities of preterm birth. Exploratory data, collected to guide design of future clinical trials for efficacy, will include serial neuro-imaging metrics acquired from clinical images, serial neonatal neurodevelopmental examinations, serum and urine MLT and EPO levels, and liquid biomarkers. Successful implementation of this initial safety trial will provide essential data to guide the next stage of clinical trials to test if sustained MLT+EPO treatment can reduce the need for surgical intervention, and avoid the lifelong burden of shunted hydrocephalus.
The purpose of the study is to determine if early application of the Tortle Midliner for preterm infants, ≤ 3 hours following birth and with subsequent continuous use through 72 hrs. of life to ensure maintenance of optimal midline positioning (Tortle group), will impact the IVH outcome as determined by a reduction in the rate and/or severity of IVH when compared to infants receiving the standard regimen of care (Control group).
Brain bleed in premature infants damages the brain and survivors suffer from cerebral palsy (weakness in the extremities), cognitive deficits, and neurobehavioral disorders. In this clinical trial, investigators will test whether thyroxine (hormone from thyroid gland) treatment in premature infants with moderate-to-large brain bleeds show recovery in the brain structure on MRI evaluation at the time of discharge (44+/-1 weeks) and neurodevelopmental improvement at 2 years of age.
Premature infants are at high risk for variations in blood pressure and oxygenation during the first few days of life. The immaturity of the premature brain may further predispose these infants to death or the development of neurologic problems. The relationship between unstable blood pressure and oxygen levels and brain injury has not been well elucidated. This study investigates the utility of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a non-invasive oxygen-measuring device, to identify preterm infants at highest risk for brain injury or death.
Currently, when premature infants develop severe intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), a type of intracerebral bleed, there are no proven therapeutic interventions to prevent the devastating consequences of this event. These children will be likely to develop cerebral palsy or severe cognitive delays. The purpose of our study is to characterize differences in brain physiology, imaging, and function between premature infants with severe IVH and controls. The goals for gathering this information are to generate baseline data, which could facilitate early screening for complications of IVH in premature infants. These baseline data would also allow the design and implementation of early therapeutic interventions to help rehabilitate premature infants with severe IVH.
The purpose of this multicenter trial is to determine if indomethacin prevents bleeding in the brain of very low birth weight preterm infants.
In Canada, about 900 babies each year are born very early (\<26 weeks of gestation) and have a high chance of dying or having a serious bleed in the brain. Families of these extremely preterm babies consider preventing severe brain bleeding as critical to their child's health and well-being. A medicine called indomethacin, when given intravenously in 3-doses, is known to reduce severe brain bleeding. But use of this drug is variable among clinicians working in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) due to (a) its side effects on the gut; (b) possible harm when used with other medications; (c) a notion that despite reducing brain bleeds, the child's long-term brain development is not improved. Emerging evidence suggests that a single low-dose indomethacin regimen may be equally effective in reducing severe brain bleeding as compared to a traditional 3-dose regimen. The investigators propose a blinded randomized controlled trial, a study design where babies born \<26 weeks will be randomly assigned within 12 hours of birth to either a single dose of intravenous indomethacin or similar looking placebo in the form a saline solution. The study will test if a single dose indomethacin regimen is effective in improving survival of these babies without the devastating complication of severe brain bleeding. In this study the care providers and researchers will be unaware as to which baby receives indomethacin and which baby receives placebo to ensure no one's expectations or biases can influence the results. The investigators will conduct the study in multiple NICUs across Canada, the United States and Australia and will enroll 500 babies born \<26 weeks or \<750 g birth weight over a period of 3 years. This study will help the investigators determine in the most unbiased way whether a single dose of indomethacin given immediately after birth in the smallest babies born \<26 weeks of gestation can safely and effectively reduce severe brain bleeding.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate long-term safety and efficacy outcomes following previously administered short-term exposure to SHP607, as compared to a standard neonatal care group.
This study is being conducted to compare the incidence of preterm infants (up to 28+6 weeks GA) who achieve a peripheral oxygen saturation of 80 percent by 5 minutes of life (MOL) given mask CPAP/PPV with an FiO2 of 1.0 during DCC for 90 seconds (HI Group) to infants given mask CPAP/PPV with an FiO2 of .30 during DCC for 90 seconds (LO Group).
Extremely low birth weight (ELBW), birth weight less than or equal to 1000 g, infants are at high risk for developing brain injury in the first week of life. Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) are the most common injuries in this group of infants. Their incidence is inversely proportional to gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW). These lesions are associated with neurodevelopmental delay, poor cognitive performance, visual and hearing impairment, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy; and instability of systemic hemodynamics during transition from intra- to extra-uterine life and during the early neonatal period is believed to be at their genesis. While the incidence of ultrasound- diagnosed cystic PVL has decreased dramatically over the last 2 decades, diffuse PVL detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is still prevalent in survivors of neonatal intensive care. Moreover, PVL, even when non-cystic, is associated with decreased cortical complexity and brain volume and eventual neurocognitive impairment. Currently, clinicians lack the tools to detect changes in cerebral perfusion prior to irreversible injury. Unfortunately, the incidence of brain injury in ELBW infants has remained relatively stable. Once translated to the bedside, the goal of this research is to develop a monitoring system that will allow researchers to identify infants most at risk for IVH and PVL and in the future, intervention studies will be initiated to use the changes in cerebral perfusion to direct hemodynamic management. The purpose of this study is to first understand the physiology of brain injury and then to eventually impact the outcomes in this high-risk group of infants by assessing the ability of the diastolic closing margin (DCM), a non-invasive estimate of brain perfusion pressure, to predict hemorrhagic and ischemic brain injury in ELBW infants. The information collected for this study will help develop algorithms or monitoring plans that will maintain the appropriate brain perfusion pressure and thereby, prevent severe brain injury.
Over the last 30 years the survival rates for babies born prematurely have improved greatly with research. As these babies grow up, we have found that many of the premature babies have learning and movement problems. The purpose of this research is to learn why premature infants are at risk for learning disabilities and movement problems later in childhood and whether this is changed by caffeine therapy. Caffeine is often used in premature babies to help them to breathe on their own. Nearly all babies born before 30 weeks gestation receive caffeine while they are in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Scientists have shown that caffeine therapy given to premature babies reduces their disabilities. We will use brain monitoring, including electro-encephalogram (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to understand how the brain of a premature baby develops and whether caffeine in high doses enhances protection of the developing brain. Just as we monitor the heart and lungs to improve our care of premature babies, we wish to monitor the brain so that we can understand how to improve our care for the brain.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether inhaled nitric oxide improves the neurological outcome for premature infants.
The purpose of this study is to determine if an investigational drug can prevent Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, reducing the burden of chronic lung disease in extremely premature infants, as compared to extremely premature infants receiving standard neonatal care alone.
The highest risk for perinatal brain injury occurs among extremely premature infants who weigh less than 1250 grams at birth. Such perinatal brain injury is currently irreversible, associated with neurodevelopmental disability, and without adequate treatment modalities. Research in recent years suggest in both animal and human studies that erythropoietin (Epo) may have significant neuroprotective effects. Given the historical safe medical profile of Epo when used for anemia of prematurity but the likely need for a greater dosage regimen for activation of neuroprotective pathways against neonatal brain injury, we therefore propose this phase II study of high-dose Epo in very low birth weight infants for the prevention and/or attenuation of prematurity-related cerebral hemorrhagic-ischemic injury.
The purpose of this pilot trial is to test the safety and efficacy of administering one dose of vitamin E, via a tube into the stomach, to extremely preterm infants (less than 27 weeks gestation and less than 1000 grams birth weight). This pilot will examine whether a single dose of vitamin E will be absorbed into the infants' bloodstreams with resulting serum α-tocopherol level in the target range of 1-3 mg/dl.
This large randomized trial tested whether phenobarbital given to a pregnant woman about to deliver a premature infant would prevent brain injuries in their newborns. Women with 24 to 32 week fetuses who were in preterm labor and were expected to deliver within 24 hrs were randomized to phenobarbital or usual care. They were treated until they deliver or the fetus reaches 33 wks gestation. Babies were followed until discharge and evaluated at 18-22 mos corrected age for neurodevelopmental outcome.