View clinical trials related to Premature Birth.
Filter by:The Early Prediction Study is a longitudinal population-based cohort study for very preterm infants ≤32 weeks gestational age. Preterm infants recruited from three greater Cincinnati and two Dayton area neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) will undergo advanced MRIs at 41 weeks postmenstrual age and neurodevelopmental testing at the corrected ages of two and three years correct age. The goal of the Early Prediction Study is to accurately predict motor, cognitive, and behavioral deficits in individual very preterm infants using neuroimaging technologies and established epidemiologic approaches.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of continuing treatment with caffeine citrate in the hospital and at home in moderately preterm infants with resolved apnea of prematurity on days of hospitalization after randomization.
Every year, almost all of ½ million infants born prematurely in the US and 15 million worldwide suffer from abnormal brain maturation resulting from interactions between immaturity and atypical sensory experiences after birth. This study uses rigorous scientific methods to measure the effects and determine the mechanisms of action of a parent-supported multisensory neurorehabilitative intervention for preterm infants, adaptable to a wide variety of neonatal environments, even when parents cannot be at their child's bedside. The intervention aims to improve brain multisensory processing, reactions to sensory stimulation in the home and long term language and motor development.
Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) coexist in patients with heart failure (HF) and LV dysfunction. Frequent PVCs have shown to induce a reversible cardiomyopathy (PVC-CM). This clinical pilot study will enroll 36 patients with frequent PVCs (burden >10%) and CM (LVEF <45%) and randomize them to either: 1) RFA or 2) AADs. Prior to treatment, patients will undergo a baseline cardiac MR if clinically indicated followed by 3-month observation period (optimal HF medical therapy). Changes in LV function/scar, PVC burden/arrhythmias and clinical/functional status (QOL, HF symptoms and admissions, NYHA class) and adverse events will be assessed throughout the observation period and compare with PVC suppression strategies (RFA or AAD). Similar comparison will be made between RFA and AAD treatment groups during a 12-month follow up using a Prospective Randomized Open, Blinded End-point (PROBE) study design. The treatment regimens will be compared in an intention-to-treat analysis. In addition, a total of 20,000 consecutive ambulatory ECG Holter monitors from all participating centers will be screened to identify all patients with probable diagnosis of PVC-CM. This pilot study is intended to estimate the prevalence of this clinical entity and pave the way for a large full scale randomized trial to identify best treatment strategy for patients with PVC-CM. Treating and reversing this underestimated PVC-CM may improve patient's health and subsequently decrease HF healthcare spending.
Recent advances in neonatal intensive care have dramatically increased the survival rate of extremely premature infants but the number of survivors with severe morbidity and lifelong neurodevelopmental impairment remains high. Perinatal white matter injury is the predominant form of brain injury in premature infants, often leading to adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Intrauterine and neonatal infection and inflammation have been identified as major risk factors of neonatal brain injury. The fragile gut microbiome of premature infants seems to play an important role in health and disease as distortions of the microbiome occur prior to sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis. Furthermore, the close link of the gut microbiome to neurological and psychiatric diseases in animal models suggests that the microbiome may influence brain maturation and development in preterm infants. Recent studies have underlined the importance of regulatory T cells as well as γδ T cells in brain injury, which can be directly influenced by the gut microbiome. It is therefore likely that an underdeveloped or distorted gut microbiome affects host immune response and may be a risk factor for neurodevelopmental disabilities in extremely premature infants who are already challenged by the unphysiologic early extrauterine environment after premature birth which affects maturation of the gut microbiome and immune system as well as neurophysiological maturation alike. Therefore, the overarching aim of the PreMiBraIn study is to elucidate the role of the gut-immune-brain axis on neonatal brain injury and its impact on long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of extremely premature infants. The study cohort will consist of a total of 60 extremely premature infants with a gestational age < 28 weeks and birth weight < 1000 grams. The investigators seek to characterize the orchestrated dynamics of the maturation of the gut microbiome and the subsequent impact on maturation of innate and adaptive immune mechanisms as well as neurophysiological maturation and neurodevelopmental outcome. Furthermore, the investigators will assess the value of the microbiome as a prognostic indicator for neonatal brain injury as well as short- and long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of extremely premature infants. This goal will be achieved by state-of-the-art techniques using 16s rRNA gene sequencing of the gut microbiome, holistic analysis of T cell biology using flow cytometry, whole transcriptome analysis and proteomics as well as neurophysiological measurements (amplitude-integrated EEG, near-infrared spectroscopy, visual evoked potentials) and cranial MRI of extremely premature infants. Short- and long-term neurological outcome will be investigated using Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Third Edition at one and two years corrected age, and Kaufmann-Assessment Battery for Children at five years of age. The investigators expect to find microbiome signatures that are predictive for later neurodevelopmental disabilities which may then be used for early screening and intervention and may suggest personalized therapeutic options. The prospects of precision medicine targeting the gut-immune-brain axis in extremely premature infants hold the opportunity to improve the overall outcome of these high-risk patients.
The investigators hypothesise that intact umbilical cord milking (I-UCM) will reduce neonatal morbidity and improve long term neurodevelopmental outcome in very preterm infants. All babies born less than 32 weeks gestation, meeting the inclusion criteria will be randomly assigned to either I-UCM or immediate cord clamping (ICC) and their short and long term outcome measures analyzed.
Extremely low gestational age neonates (ELGANs), i.e. those born at <28 weeks, frequently experience intermittent hypoxemic/hyperoxemic episodes. Observational data indicate that severe and prolonged hypoxemic episodes are associated with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), impaired long-term development and death. Closed-loop automated control of the inspiratory fraction of oxygen (FiO2-C) reduces time outside the oxygen target range, decreases number and duration of hypo- and hyperoxemic episodes, and reduces caregivers' workload. The proposed observer-blinded randomized controlled trial was designed and will be powered to compare the effect of FiO2-C in addition to manual adjustments, in comparison with manual adjustments of FiO2 only, on death and severe complications of prematurity thought to be related to hypoxia/hyperoxia and neurodevelopmental impairment in ELGANs. The results of this trial may help to improve the quality of life of ELGANs and reduce the burden of significant morbidity as well as costs for health care and society
Background: Preterm birth (PTB) remains the leading cause of neonatal mortality and long term disability throughout the world. Recently treatments early in pregnancy such as progesterone, cervical support and maternal support have been demonstrated to delay delivery amongst at risk women. Nonetheless, the majority of women who are at risk are not identified using current screening modalities. Hypothesis: A cohort of pregnancies who are screened using the PreTRM® test around 20 weeks gestation in which a bundle of interventions is given for elevated PreTRM® risk will show either decreased neonatal morbidity/and mortality (measured as a composite score, "NMI"), or decreased length of neonatal stay in the hospital (NNOLOS). Secondarily, they will show an increase in gestational age at birth (GAB) and a reduction in length of neonatal NICU stay (NICULOS), compared to an unscreened historical control group. Study Design Type: Prospective cohort study of screened women compared to a historical control of 10000 women.
Early hemodynamic effects (within 3 hours of life) of Delayed Cord Clamping compared to Umbilical Cord Milking are still unknown. Four sites experienced in the use of NIRS and who have appropriate data collection equipment in the delivery room (Alberta, Ulm, Cork and San Diego) will obtain and report the physiological changes with UCM and DCC from birth until 24 hours of life. This data will yield the largest available sample of continuously recorded heart rate, cerebral tissue oxygenation, peripheral oxygen saturation, airway pressure, and administered FiO2 to delineate the short term responses to two methods of placental transfusion. In our initial trial we demonstrated increased blood pressure from 3-15 HOL with UCM compared to DCC in premature newborns <32 weeks, but did not show any differences in cerebral oxygenation.
This is an open label, single arm, single center investigation to assess the safety and efficacy of purified adult autologous bone marrow derived specific populations of stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells injected into the ovaries (intraovarian injection), through a 12 week follow-up period. The investigators' chosen model of study is based on increasing the efficiency of the approach by choosing an autologous model which preserves the genetic composition of an individual that is vital in infertility conditions. Additionally the approach involves transplanting a combination of specific purified stem cell types which all aid in ovarian function recovery.