View clinical trials related to Extreme Prematurity.
Filter by:Extreme prematurity is constantly increasing according to the World Health Organization. However, methods to train premature infants at risk of disability is sorely lacking. The goal of this project is to overcome this problem. In previous studies, the investigators discovered that promoting the crawling of typical newborns on a mini skateboard, the Crawliskate (a new tool that the investigators designed and patented EP2974624A1), is an excellent way to stimulate infants' motor and locomotor development. This method is a promising way to provide early interventions in infants at heightened risk for developmental delay, such as premature infants. The specific objective of this study is to determine if early training in crawling on this mini skateboard will accelerate motor (particularly locomotor) and/or neuropsychological development in very premature infants identified as high risk for developmental delay. Methodology: The investigators will study and follow two groups of very premature infants born between 24 and 26 weeks of gestational age or born between 26 and 32 with major brain lesions. These infants will be recruited before their hospital discharge at the NICU. After their discharge from the hospital, one group of infants will be trained at home by their parents under the supervision of physiotherapists to crawl on the Crawliskate every day for 2 months (Crawli group), and one group of infants will receive regular medical care (Control group). All infants will be tested for: 1)their crawling proficiency on the Crawliskate at term-equivalent age (just before training for the trained groups) and at 2 and 6 months corrected age (CA, i.e., age determined from the date on which they should have been born), 2) their motor proficiency between 2 and 12 months CA (2D and 3D recording of head control, sitting, crawling, stepping, walking) and 3) their neurodevelopmental, motor and neuropsychological development between 0 and 28 months CA: BSID III edition, ASQ-3, Amiel-Tison's Neurological Assessment, Prechtl Assessment of general movements. One more ASQ-3 questionnaire will be provided at five years. Expected results: The first research hypothesis is that premature infants trained daily to crawl (for two months after discharge from the NICU) will acquire proficient crawling patterns and develop earlier and more effective motor and neuropsychological development than premature infants who receive no training.
Fluid-unresponsive hypotension needing cardiotropic drug treatment is a serious complication in very preterm neonates with suspected late-onset sepsis (LOS; defined as culture positive or negative bloodstream infection or necrotizing enterocolitis occurring >48 hours of age). In Canada, ~250 very preterm neonates receive cardiotropic drugs for LOS related fluid-unresponsive hypotension every year; of these ~35-40% die. Unlike for adult patients, there is little evidence to inform practice. While several medications are used by clinicians, the most frequently used medications are Dopamine (DA) and Norepinephrine (NE). However, their relative impact on patient outcomes and safety is not known resulting in significant uncertainty and inter- and intra-unit variability in practice. Conducting large randomized trials in this subpopulation can be operationally challenging and expensive. Comparative effectiveness research (CER), is a feasible alternative which can generate high-quality real-world evidence using real-world data, by comparing the impact of different clinical practices. Aim: To conduct an international CER study, using a pragmatic clinical trial design, in conjunction with the existing infrastructure of the Canadian Neonatal Network to identify the optimal management of hypotension in very preterm neonates with suspected LOS. Objective: To compare the relative effectiveness and safety of pharmacologically equivalent dosages of DA versus NE for primary pharmacotherapy for fluid-unresponsive hypotension in preterm infants born ≤ 32 weeks gestational age with suspected LOS. Hypothesis: Primary treatment with NE will be associated with a lower mortality Methods: This CER project will compare management approach at the unit-level allowing inclusion of all eligible patients admitted during the study period. 15 centers in Canada, 4 centers in Ireland, 2 centers in Israel and 6 centers in the United States have agreed to standardize their practice. All eligible patients deemed circulatory insufficient will receive fluid therapy (minimum 10-20 cc/kg). If hypotension remains unresolved: Dopamine Units: start at 5mics/kg/min, increase every 16-30 minutes by 5 mics/kg/min to a maximum dose of 15 mics/kg/min or adequate response Norepinephrine Units: start at 0.05 mics/kg/min, increase every 16-30 minutes by 0.05 mics/kg/min to maximum dose of 0.15/mics/kg/min or adequate response
Background: There is significant variation in how clinicians currently present information to parents in periviable labour. Whilst each conversation with an individual set of parents will vary, the current level of variation is extreme. In collaborative discussions with the neonatal parental advisory group whilst designing this project, parents reported numerous experiences of significant variation in practice between clinicians in relation to periviable delivery management. There is a pressing issue of injustice here as the hospital or clinician the parent presents to in labour should not restrict their access to information and options for management at delivery. Parents should be empowered and engaged in making an individualised decision for their infant. However, this is not possible if information is not accurately presented to them. There is a gap in knowledge about what information is vital to include in periviable decision-making conversations between parents and healthcare professionals. This study aims to address this important gap in knowledge. Research Question: How can information sharing and decision-making conversations between healthcare professionals and parents prior to periviable birth be improved? Research Aims: 1. To gain understanding of current UK-wide antenatal optimisation practices for infants born at periviable gestations. 2. To establish an evidence-based conversational structure for pre-delivery periviable decision-making discussions, and a prioritised set of key discussion topics derived from parental consensus and clinician input. 3. To develop a set of parent and clinician derived recommendations to improve pre-delivery periviable decision-making conversations. Methodology: The study would progress along the following structure: 1. Literature Review of literature related to how and what information is presented to parents facing periviable labour by healthcare professionals. 2. Semi-structured interviews with clinicians and parents. The aim will be to determine an evidence-based set of priorities for each group and identify the differences in priorities and barriers that exist in communication between parents and clinicians. 3. National Evaluation of current periviable management practices across the UK. This will benchmark and expose variation in current practice. 4. Analysis of pre-delivery periviable conversations. 5. Focus groups with parents and clinicians to consolidate and stratify key priority themes for periviable decision-making conversations and assess acceptability of developing parent-centred periviable delivery resources. 6. Parent survey of parent-assessed long-term outcomes for periviable delivery survivors. Impact and Dissemination: This study will investigate the key topic areas and conversational structure of pre-delivery periviable decision-making conversations, aiming to provide evidence-based recommendations for improvement.
The intervention proposed is a new organization of care, based on the EXPRIM (EXtrem PRematurity Innovative Management) protocol, involving early, standardized, and multidisciplinary management of women hospitalized for a risk of extremely preterm birth and their children. It will take place in each perinatal network for all pregnant women hospitalized between 22 and 26 weeks with a risk of preterm delivery. Setting up the protocol requires taking into account the parents' time and timing issues, and its potential for change, to plan the implementation of the protocol, especially the degree of emergency of the situation and the probability of imminent delivery. The follow-up collected for this study will take place: - At D4 post-delivery: A questionnaire about the parents' experience of the information delivered and the decisions made will be given to and collected from the parents - At the child's discharge from the hospital, or if he or she dies in the hospital: - Collection of clinical data (principal endpoint) from data in the medical file. - Data to measure practices and adherence to the intervention will be collected - When the child reaches the corrected age of 2 years: - a short questionnaire will be completed by the physician caring for the child at the corrected age of 2 years. The data collected will concern motor and sensory development, in particular, cerebral palsy, blindness, and deafness.. - Information about the child's development will also be collected with a questionnaire including a standardized assessment scale, the ASQ (Ages and Stages Questionnaire), which the parents will complete.
The SafeBoosC-III 2 year follow up study will follow up on all patients randomised in the SafeBoosC-III clinical trial (NCT03770741). The investigators will collect data when the patients are two years of corrected age from routine standardised follow up assessments, parental questionnaires as well as informal assessments. The study will commence in September 2021, and will expect to include all 72 sites across 18 countries, which take part of the SafeBoosC-III clinical trial.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of LISA used in the delivery room (DR) in decreasing the intubation rates in preterm infants at 22-25 weeks gestational age (GA), during first 72 hours compared to the standard approach of stabilization on nasal CPAP in the DR and administering surfactant in the NICU. Infants in both groups will be resuscitated per NRP algorithm. Infants who maintain a stable HR and respiratory effort on CPAP will qualify for the intervention. Infants in Group 1 (Intervention arm) will receive LISA in DR. CPAP will be titrated between 5-8 cm H20 after LISA. Infants in Group 2 (Control arm) will be transferred to NICU on CPAP. The CPAP level will be increased stepwise every 30 minutes to 7 cm H2O if FiO2 ≥0.3. Infants requiring CPAP 7 at FiO2 ≥0.3 will receive LISA. CPAP will be titrated between 5-8 cm H20 after LISA. Infants in both arms requiring CPAP 7 and FiO2 >0.8 at 20 MOL in the delivery room will be intubated in DR. Any infant with a heart rate not responding with appropriate PPV will be intubated in the DR. CXR will be obtain on admission and umbilical lines will be placed. Infants in both arm who require FiO2 ≥0.6 for ≥1 hour, apnea requiring stimulation 3 times within one hour or ≥6 over 6 hour period, any apnea requiring PPV, or CO2 >0.65 in two consecutive blood gases drawn over two hours will be considered as reasons for intubation after LISA. Primary outcome is the need for MV within 72 hours of life, secondary outcome includes need for MV during first week of life and during hospital stay, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), spontaneous intestinal perforation (SIP), need for treatment of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), composite death or BPD and mortality. This is a feasibility trial with the intention to enroll 30 infants in each arm of the study over three years.
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).
Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is the most common cardiovascular problem that develops in preterm infants. Persistent PDA may result in higher rates of death, chronic lung disease (CLD), pulmonary hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), acute kidney injury (AKI), intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and cerebral palsy. Currently available options to treat a PDA include indomethacin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen followed by surgical or interventional closure of the PDA if medical therapy fails. Wide variation exists in PDA treatment practices across Canada. A survey conducted through the Canadian Neonatal Network (CNN) in 2019 showed that the most common choice of initial pharmacotherapy is standard dose ibuprofen. In view of the high pharmacotherapy failure rate with standard dose ibuprofen, there is a growing use of higher doses of ibuprofen with increasing postnatal age (with 32% of respondents currently adopting this practice) in spite of the fact that effectiveness and safety of higher ibuprofen doses have not been established in extremely preterm infants [<29 weeks gestational age (GA)]. In view of this large practice variation across Canadian neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), we are planning a comparative effectiveness study of the different primary pharmacotherapeutic agents used to treat the PDA in preterm infants. Aims Primary: To compare the primary pharmacotherapeutic practices for PDA closure and evaluate their impact on clinical outcomes in extremely preterm infants (<29 weeks GA) Secondary: To understand the relevance of pharmacotherapeutic PDA treatment with respect to clinical outcomes in the real world. Methods: Participants: Extremely preterm infants (<29 weeks gestational age) with an echocardiography confirmed PDA who will be treated according to attending team Interventions: 1. Standard dose ibuprofen [10-5-5 regimen, i.e., 10mg/kg followed by 2 doses of 5mg/kg at 24h intervals] 2. Adjustable dose ibuprofen [10-5-5 regimen if treated within the first week. Higher doses of ibuprofen up to a 20-10-10 regimen if treated after the postnatal age cut-off for lower dose as per the local center policy] 3. Intravenous indomethacin [0.1-0.3mg/kg every 12-24h for a total of 3 doses]. 4. Acetaminophen [Oral/intravenous] (15mg/kg every 6h) for 3-7 days Outcomes: Primary: Failure of primary pharmacotherapy (Need for further medical and/or surgical/interventional treatment following an initial course of pharmacotherapy). Secondary: (a) Receipt of 2nd course of pharmacotherapy; (b) Surgical/interventional PDA closure; (c) CLD (d) NEC (stage 2 or greater) (e) Severe IVH (Grade III-IV) (f) Definite sepsis (g) Stage 1 or greater AKI; (h) Post-treatment serum bilirubin; (i) Phototherapy duration; (j) All-cause mortality during hospital stay.
To assess whether stepwise oxygenation-guided lung recruitment at regular intervals reduces the oxygen saturation index (OSI = Mean Airway Pressure × Fraction of inspired Oxygen × 100 / peripheral Oxygen Saturation, OSI = MAPxFiO2x100/SpO2) averaged over high frequency oscillation ventilation (HFOV) time in extremely preterm infants.
The goal of the NANO trial is to study the longstanding clinical practice of empirically administering intravenous antibiotics to extremely low birthweight (ELBW) infants in the first days of life. In this 802-subject multicenter placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial, the hypothesis to be tested is that the incidence of adverse outcomes is higher in babies receiving empiric antibiotics (EA) in the first week of life compared to babies receiving placebo. The study targets a population of ELBW infants in whom the clinical decision to use or not use EA is currently most challenging -- infants that are clinically stable that did not have a known exposure to intraamniotic infection and were not born preterm for maternal indications. The primary outcome is the composite outcome of late-onset sepsis (LOS), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), or death during the index hospitalization. Secondary safety outcomes will include total antibiotic days, days to full enteral feedings, and common morbidities in preterm infants that have previously been linked to EA, e.g. retinopathy of prematurity and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Weight and length z-score, and head circumference, are standard measures to be collected weekly by clinical team per a standardized protocol.