Active clinical trials for "Premature Birth"

Primary Hypothesis: Acute tocolysis (48 hours) using oral nifedipine is more effective than intravenous magnesium sulfate in prolonging pregnancy in women with preterm labor with intact membranes between 24 and 32 6/7 weeks' gestation.

This multicenter clinical trial tested whether minimal ventilation decreases death or BPD. Infants with birth weight 501g to 1000g and mechanically ventilated before 12 hours were randomly assigned to minimal ventilation (partial pressure of carbon dioxide [PCO(2)] target >52 mm Hg) or routine ventilation (PCO(2) target <48 mm Hg) and a tapered dexamethasone course or saline placebo for 10 days, using a 2 x 2 factorial design. The primary outcome was death or BPD at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age. Blood gases, ventilator settings, and FiO2 were recorded for 10 days; complications and outcomes were monitored to discharge. The infants' neurodevelopment was evaluated at 18-22 months corrected age.

Pain is a frequent occurrence during the early life of premature newborns. Studies on the short term effects of pain, and potential for long-term ones, have shown that pain affects various physiological and behaviorial parameters. Sucrose during a painful procedure reduce behaviorial and cardiac manifestations in preterm infant, but a recent study casts doubt on its efficacy. Analgesic treatments are available, but a large number of experimental studies in animals ended up with questioning the safety of their use in neonates, particularly in premature ones. Soothing and analgesic methods have been developed such nonnutritive suckling, sucrose, skin to skin contact, and breastfeeding. Therefore, it is important to explore other methods of analgesia. Recently, the role of olfaction as a soothing tool in full term newborns was examined in several studies. The olfactory system is more mature at birth than the others senses. The neonates reacted with significant facial and respiratory changes to low concentration of olfactory stimuli during the various behaviorial states. The analysis of olfacto-facial configurations revealed that behaviorial markers of disgust discriminated between some odors judged as pleasant and unpleasant by adults rather. Objective The study was designed to assess the analgesic effect of vanilla odor on preterm neonates. The primary outcome was the Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) score. The secondary outcomes were: the French scale Faceless Acute Neonatal pain Scale (FANS), salivary cortisol. Study design This is a prospective, randomized, controlled, double-blind and monocentric trial. It is conducted in a level III maternity unit at the North Hospital in Marseille. The infant will feed without their own mother's breast milk, clinically stable, born between 30 and 36 weeks and 6 days gestational age, and of less than 10 days postnatal age. In both groups, the painful stimulus is a venipuncture for blood collection. In the experimental group, called "vanilla odor" group, the venipuncture will be performed on the neonate in the presence of a diffuser spreading the vanilla odor and ingestion of water. In the control group, the venipuncture will be performed with an odorless diffuser and ingestion of sucrose. Both group have non nutritive sucking. The diffuser will place under a Hood with an air-flow of 7 l/min. It will manually switch on 3 minutes before the venipuncture and switch off 3 minutes later. The type and quantity of vanillin to be used were determined during a pre-testing phase. Assessment Scale shows significant improvement in the neonates, with good interobserver agreement. Attempt results A current randomized study compare effects of breast milk and vanilla odors, on premature neonate's pain during and after venipuncture. Our previous study has shown that maternal breast milk odor in preterm neonates reduces PIPP scores during a venipuncture and markedly reduces crying after this procedure. Therefore, from a clinical perspective, the odor of mother's own breast milk has an analgesic effect on the premature neonate. Olfactory stimulation using maternal breast milk odor could have other clinical implications in neonatal medicine in addition to pain prevention, as does olfactory stimulation with a pleasant vanilla-based odor. It could be integrated into developmental care of premature neonates.

Infants who are born prematurely have immature nervous and cardiorespiratory systems. These are systems infants use to breathe, to move oxygen throughout their bodies, and to maintain safe and stable levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The goal of this study is to better understand how these immature systems affect long term development, such as brain, heart, and motor function (movement) with several innovative, integrated physiological measures. We hope this will allow us to begin to find better ways to help premature infants breathe and to optimize their development.

Birth exposes the newborn to oxidative stress, as due to the switch from a protected, relatively hypoxic intrauterine milieu into an environment with a high oxygen pressure. The full-term newborn is well prepared to this massive redox challenge at the time of birth due to his well-integrated antioxidant defenses. On the contrary, numerous bibliographical data and our own work demonstrate the fragility of preterm newborns in this context of oxidative stress, linked to the immaturity of his antioxidant defenses. Premature birth abruptly propels the fetus from the protected, relatively hypoxic intrauterine milieu to an environment at risk of free radical injury caused by mechanical ventilation strategies, including the use of high inspired oxygen fractions or inhaled nitric oxide, generating excessive reactive oxidative species (ROS). Several studies highlight the key role of ROS in adverse outcomes of preterm infant suffering from low birth weight, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis or retinopathy. This project aims to evaluate a therapeutic anti-oxidative strategy in order to correct the oxidative status of preterm infants. The investigators propose an early intervention that consists in an antenatal maternal supplementation with N-acetylcysteine (NAC), the acetylated precursor of both cysteine and glutathione, a key physiological antioxidant. This strategy could be promising for the development of simplified and personalized care of preterm infants. GSH MAP is a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study that aims to determine if NAC supplementation in women admitted to hospital care due to preterm labor (prior to 34 weeks of gestational age) may correct glutathione deficiency in neonatal cord blood.

This is a multicenter randomized study designed to determine if physical exam indicated cerclage reduces the incidence of spontaneous preterm birth <34 weeks in asymptomatic women with twin gestations and dilated cervix, diagnosed by pelvic exam between 16 to 23 6/7 weeks of gestation.

This is a safety and efficacy study of OnabotulinumtoxinA for the treatment of premature ejaculation (PE) in male participants.

In this randomized study The investigators aim to compare the growth of very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants fed either a high protein or a standard protein preterm infant formula. Babies will be fed the assigned formula between the time they achieve full enteral feeds and hospital discharge, for a minimum of 3 weeks. The weight gain (g/d) will be measured and compared between groups. Feeding tolerance, protein-energy status and body composition between the study groups will also be analysed. After discharge, babies will be fed a post-discharge preterm infant formula (PDF) between hospital discharge and 3 m corrected age.

Several recent publications showed a reduction in the level of DHA and/or an increase in the arachidonic acid (AA)/DHA ratio in the milk of mother. We hypothesized that the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) status of the premature newborn fed mother's milk is unbalanced because the content of DHA of the milk of mother nowadays is insufficient, whereas scientific arguments point-out the essential role of DHA and balanced AA/DHA ratio of human milk to explain the beneficial role of the breast-feeding at short, medium and long term. We will study the benefits of DHA supplements (TG-DHA versus GPL-DHA) of mothers in PUGA status improvement in their premature newborn consecutive to DHA enrichment and balanced AA/DHA ratio of human milk. GPL-DHA should be more effective than TG-DHA by protecting both n-3 and n-6 fatty acids pathways.

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of blindness in children in developed countries around the world, and an increasing cause of blindness in developing countries. The retina lines the inside of the eye. It functions as "film" within the camera which is the eye. When an infant is born prematurely, the vascular network necessary to nourish the retina has not fully developed. As a consequence, in some infants abnormal vessels proliferate instead of the normal ones - a condition known as ROP. The abnormal vessels carry scar tissue along with them, and may lead to retinal detachment and blindness if the eye is not treated. The Multicenter Trial of Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity (CRYO-ROP) Study demonstrated that ablation of the peripheral avascular retina reduced the risk of poor structural and visual outcome due to retinal distortion or detachment in ROP (1980's). The ablated retina is not functional and is not amenable to regeneration. Peripheral retinal ablation is not universally effective in fostering regression of ROP. This is particularly true for an aggressive form of ROP (aggressive posterior ROP, or APROP) which typically afflicts profoundly premature and infirm neonates. In this subset of infants, progression of ROP to bilateral retinal detachment and blindness occurs despite timely and complete peripheral retinal laser ablation. Rationale The development of ROP is largely dependent on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). When an infant is born prematurely the relatively hyperoxic environment the baby is introduced to shuts down the production of VEGF. Retinal maturation is delayed. Subsequently, at a time when intraocular VEGF levels would normally be declining late in the third trimester of pregnancy, abnormally high levels of VEGF are seen due to large areas of avascular retina and associated tissue hypoxia. The availability of FDA-approved drugs for anti-VEGF treatment renders it possible to treat such eyes off-label. Available drugs include pegaptanib sodium (Macugen) for partial blockage of VEGF-A, or drugs such as ranibizumab (Lucentis) and bevacizumab (Avastin), which cause complete blockage of VEGF-A. As VEGF is required in the developing retina for normal angiogenesis, and our goal is not to penetrate tissue, but to block the excessive levels of VEGF trapped within the overlying vitreous which is responsible for the abnormal vasculature in ROP. For purposes of this study the investigators have chosen bevacizumab (Avastin), which will: a) attain complete blockage (vs. Macugen) of intravitreal VEGF-A, and; b) which is limited in its ability to penetrate tissues because it is a full antibody (vs. Lucentis, an antibody fragment specifically designed for better tissue penetration), and is more likely to restore VEGF homeostasis within the developing retina.