Heart Defects, Congenital
Conditions
Brief summary
Anesthesia-related neurotoxicity in the developing brain is still a concern although evidence in humans is debatable. Moreover, it is unclear whether repeated and/or prolonged exposures are harmless and whether their effects are more pronounced in newborns and infants with brains more vulnerable to injury. One such specific group of patients is children with congenital heart disease (CHD). Nearly, half of the school-age survivors with CHD exhibit neurodevelopmental symptoms. It is thus important to elucidate whether any plausible neurotoxicity of the commonly used anesthetic agents can be observed in this population, and whether specific neuroprotective strategies can be demonstrated within the frame of a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Animal data have shown that dexmedetomidine (DEX) induces neuroprotective effects only at well-adjusted doses. One major issue with trials of anesthetic neurotoxicity is the latency between the conduct of these studies and the assessment of neurodevelopmental outcome. In contrast, the use of biomarkers of neuronal injury could be extremely valuable. Serum Neurofilament Light (NfL) has been shown to be a sensitive and specific marker of neuronal injury and is associated with neurologic outcome of children with various pathologies. The investigators hypothesize that in congenital heart surgery, use of DEX as main anesthetic agent in conjunction with low dose sevoflurane results in less release of serum NfL and is thus potentially less neurotoxic compared to the current standard of care. The hypothesis is tested with a RCT including patients between 0 - 3y undergoing surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. To avoid any neurotoxicity due to anesthetic overdose, intraoperative burst suppression will be avoided. In addition to postoperative comparison of serum NfL, postoperative electroencephalogram and neurodevelopmental outcome of both groups will be compared taking into consideration the genetic background.
Interventions
DRUGDEX group
Participants will receive a dexmedetomidine infusion in addition to low dose sevoflurane anesthesia.
OTHERControl group
Participants will receive general anesthesia based on institutional's practice with commonly used doses of sevoflurane.
Sponsors
Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc- Université Catholique de Louvain
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Masking description
The patient's parents will be informed of the study allocation in case they wish to know this, otherwise they are not supposed to be aware of group allocation. Persons who will assess the neurodevelopment outcome will not be aware of group allocation.
Intervention model description
The Intervention Drug is DEXMEDETOMIDINE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
1 Days to 3 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Patients up to 3 years * Must undergo cardiac surgery with CPB
Exclusion criteria
* Preoperative chronic kidney disease (glomerular filtration rate of less than 30 ml/min per 1.73m2 for greater than 3 months) * Preoperative cerebral hemorrhage, stroke or * Preoperative seizures * Abnormal preoperative cerebral ultrasound * Preoperative Extracorporeal Life Support * Preoperative sedated and intubated patients * Preterm newborns (\< 32 W gestational age) * Newborns weighing \< 2 kg * Patients with Williams-Beuren syndrome.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Concentration of serum Neurofilament Light | At 24 hours postoperatively | To show a difference of change in serum NfL concentrations between both groups at 24h compared to baseline values. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Neurodevelopmental outcome testing | 3 months postoperatively | Bailey Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - Third Edition. Higher scores are better. |
| Postoperative electroencephalogram registration | 24 hours | Number of seizures |
| Dose of Analgesics | 72 hours postoperatively | Use and dose of analgesics |
| Renal function | 7 days postoperatively | Defined by pediatric RIFLE criteria |
| Concentration of serum Neurofilament Light | Baseline before start of anesthesia | — |
| Time of exsudation | 7 days postoperatively | time to extubation |
| Pediatric Intensive Care Unit stay | Up to 24 weeks | Duration of stay in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit |
| Hospital stay | Up to 24 weeks | Days of hospital stay |
| Concentration of regional cerebral oxygenation | Intraoperatively | Area Under Curve of time spent below rSO2 levels of 50%; Area Under Curve of time spent below baseline rSO2 levels |
Contacts
Primary ContactMona Momeni, MD, PhD
Outcome results
None listed