Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a vascular disease affecting the retinas (back of the eye) of low birth weight infants. Although it can be treated effectively if diagnosed early, it continues to be a leading cause of childhood blindness in the United States and throughout the world. The investigators feel that this study will result in specific knowledge discovery about ROP, as well as general knowledge about how image-based data and genetic data can be combined to better understand clinical disease. Participants will be recruited from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at OHSU, along with 4 collaborating institutions (William Beaumont Hospital, Stanford University, University of Illinois Chicago and University of Utah). Hospitalized infants who receive ROP screening examinations for routine care will be eligible for this study, and will be offered the opportunity to participate. Subjects who provide informed consent will have clinical data from routine care collected along with demographic characteristics, results from routine ROP screening examinations, presence of systemic disease or risk factors. Retinal photographs will be taken during these routine eye exams, using a commercially-available camera that has been FDA-cleared for taking pictures from retinas of premature infants. These retinal pictures do not contain any identifiable patient information, and are taken as routine standard of care. The long-term goal of this research is to establish a quantitative framework for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) care based on clinical, imaging, genetic, and informatics principles. The investigators have previously recruited and rigorously phenotyped and genotyped a large study cohort, including implementation of a novel reference standard diagnosis; and built a world-class research consortium for image, genetic, and bioinformatics analysis.

The Preterm Birth Cohort Study in Guangzhou (PBCSG) aims to explore the impact of genetic and environmental factors including life styles on preterm birth, to examine the interaction effect between these factors, and to follow up the short-term and long-term outcomes of preterm childrens.

The purpose of this pilot study is to compare if keeping infants on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) support for an extended period of time until they are 32 weeks corrected gestational age or 1250 grams (approximately 2 pounds and 12 ounces) will decrease their degree of lung disease as compared to weaning their respiratory support to HFNC (high flow nasal cannula).

Every year in Canada, 1500 babies are born ≤29 weeks' gestational age (GA) and the majority survive to adulthood. Preterm birth occurs during a critical period of nephrogenesis. Antenatal and postnatal exposure to various insults may permanently disrupt normal kidney development. Indeed, preterm children have reduced nephron number and altered glomerular architecture, which may lead to glomerular hyperfiltration thus perpetuating renal damage. However, the long-term consequences of preterm birth on renal function remain under-studied. The existing reports on glomerular function have yielded contradictory results and were limited by use of imprecise estimates of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) or small sample size. Yet, a registry-based study has shown the increased risk of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in individuals born preterm. In addition, individuals born preterm have higher blood pressure. As mechanisms for hypertension following preterm birth are being unravelled, the role of the kidneys, which is key in chronic hypertension, is to be determined. So far, we have shown a relationship between smaller kidney size and increased blood pressure. A better understanding of the early markers of kidney dysfunction following preterm birth will facilitate screening and intervention to halt progression to CKD as there are currently no long-term renal follow-up guidelines for individuals born preterm. This proposal builds on our previous works on long-term health outcomes of preterm birth and experimental model of prematurity-related conditions and renal development. We aim to assess glomerular function and renal vasoactive regulatory factors in relation to blood pressure using precise measures in a cohort of young adults born preterm ≤29 weeks versus full-term controls. We further take advantage of our previous assessment of this cohort (Health of Adults born Preterm Investigation (HAPI) - CIHR 2014-18) to evaluate changes in estimated GFR and albuminuria over a 5-year period.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the benefits of an exposition to a maternal voice and heartbeat recording during hospital stay for preterm newborns. For that, we use of a specific neonatal device "Calinange" able to record maternal voice and heartbeats and to restore it with a sound level control. We hypothesize an improvement of the well being of the newborn under Calinange exposition.

The development of the retinal vascular network is completed during the third trimester of pregnancy and and the first 15 days of life of the newborn. This late maturation can be problematic in cases of preterm births and result in immature retinal vascularization, known as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Among the various factors influencing retinal vascular development, the tissue content of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) appears to be a crucial element. In a previous project, OMEGA-ROP, we showed a difference in the blood bioavailability of omega-3 PUFAs in infants born at less than 28 weeks of amenorrhea who develop ROP compared to healthy newborns with no retinopathy. This study also showed that mothers experienced variations in the blood levels of omega-3 PUFAs that were contrary to the types of variations observed in their children. This suggests a sequestration of omega-3 PUFAs in the mothers of children who will develop ROP. This new project aims to better understand the underlying molecular mechanisms by studying the expression levels of placental fatty acid receptors in relation to the development of ROP in newborns.

The purpose of this study is to design, develop, validate and pilot test an interactive Maternal Resuscitation Navigation Application (MARINA) for the purpose of providing information and guidance about the expected events that a premature infant will experience during initial resuscitation upon delivery. This information will be shared via computer app prior to the time that the mother would be in distress due to active labor. The application will be pilot tested for functionality, usability and feasibility of future use and research in clinical settings. Focused aspects of the application will include simulated video of the active delivery environment, explanation of each team member's role in resuscitation and specific activities involved in premature infant resuscitation. To assure the application addresses key information mothers would desire, the application will include content developed with input from a consulting group of mothers who have experienced premature infant resuscitation in the delivery room. Additionally, prior research by the research team will inform the build of this application. The application will have the ability for mothers to choose whether to view close up procedures (bag/mask positive pressure oxygen delivery, intubation, line placement, etc.). She may alternatively select to only view the broader view of the room while listening to the description of activities occurring at that time. The mother will be able to choose her level of interactivity depending on her comfort level. The application will go through multiple levels of testing throughout the development process. After an iterative process, when the research team finds the application acceptable, a small group of consulting parents and experienced clinicians will review the application for functionality (ease of use) and content validity. Aim 2: To pilot test the functionality, usability and feasibility of the interactive Maternal Resuscitation Navigation Application (MARINA) for future use and research in clinical settings to reduce maternal distress associated with premature infant resuscitation.

Effective initial stabilization of preterm neonates in the initial 60 minutes of life ("golden hour") was shown to improve outcomes. Keys components include anticipative and collaborative approach, respiratory support, thermal regulation and early initiation of parenteral nutrition. The objective is to complete the admission within 60 minutes of delivery.

Premature Ejaculation (PE) is a common sexual dysfunction that has a negative impact on both sex partners. Several lines of treatment have been proposed for the treatment of PE i.e. psychological, behavioral, physiotherapeutic, and pharmacological therapies.Several treatment options have been proposed for treatment of PE including tramadol HCl and PDE5 inhibitors Tramadol HCl is thought to exert its therapeutic action in PE patients

Caffeine citrate, the first-line agent for apnea of prematurity, enhances diaphragmatic activity. EDI values of neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) modes can be used to quantify the diaphragmatic activity triggered by electrical impulse from the respiratory center. This study aims to evaluate the EDI changes following caffeine citrate administration and cessation in preterm infants, and whether such changes are affected by different doses used variably in clinical settings.