Darbepoetin in Neonatal Encephalopathy Trial

Summary

Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy is also known as 'birth asphyxia related brain injury' and happens when the brain does not receive enough oxygen or blood flow around the time of birth. Birth asphyxia related brain injury is the most common cause of death and neurodisability in term babies. Cooling therapy has substantially improved the outcomes of babies with HIE. However, unacceptably high rate of adverse outcomes are still seen in cooled babies with HIE. The EDEN trial is a 2 arm randomised control trial and aims to examine the physiological effects of Darbepoetin alfa (Darbe) therapy on proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy thalamic N-acetylaspartate (NAA) level in babies with neonatal encephalopathy undergoing cooling therapy. A total of 150 babies with neonatal encephalopathy will be recruited from the participating sites in UK over a 24 month period. The babies will be randomly allocated to darbepoetin or usual care. MR imaging and spectroscopy will be performed at 1 to 2 weeks of age to examine the brain injury. Neurodevelopmental outcomes will be assessed at 18 months of age.

Timeline

Start

2021-05-28

Primary completion

2024-09-01

Completion

2024-09-01

Publications

• Background Lally PJ, Montaldo P, Oliveira V, Soe A, Swamy R, Bassett P, Mendoza J, Atreja G, Kariholu U, Pattnayak S, Sashikumar P, Harizaj H, Mitchell M, Ganesh V, Harigopal S, Dixon J, English P, Clarke P, Muthukumar P, Satodia P, Wayte S, Abernethy LJ, Yajamanyam K, Bainbridge A, Price D, Huertas A, Sharp DJ, Kalra V, Chawla S, Shankaran S, Thayyil S; MARBLE consortium. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy assessment of brain injury after moderate hypothermia in neonatal encephalopathy: a prospective multicentre cohort study. Lancet Neurol. 2019 Jan;18(1):35-45. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(18)30325-9. Epub 2018 Nov 15.

Drugs

Indications

No indication recorded.