Objectives: To determine the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of the hepatically metabolized endothelin receptor antagonist, ambrisentan in children after Fontan surgery. Design: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics and safety trial. Setting: Single-center, postoperative cardiac ICU. Patients: Children undergoing elective Fontan surgery. Interventions: Subjects randomized on postoperative day number 1 to short-term (3 d) treatment with oral ambrisentan (2.5 mg in suspension, daily) versus placebo (4:1 randomization). Measurements and Main Results: Plasma drug concentrations were measured at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 18–36 hours after the first dose. We developed a population pharmacokinetic model in NONMEM 7.2 (Icon Solutions, Ellicott City, MD) and applied the model to dose-exposure simulations. Pharmacodynamics endpoints were assessed at baseline and 3 hours after study drug administration, using postoperative hemodynamic monitoring lines. The analysis included 16 patients, 13 on ambrisentan (77 plasma samples); median age 36 months (range, 26–72 mo), weight 13.3 kg (11.1–17.6 kg), and nine males. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between ambrisentan and controls. A one-compartment model with first-order absorption and lag-time characterized the data well. Allometrically scaled weight was the only covariate retained in the final model. Typical values for clearance and volume of distribution were lower than previously reported in adults, 1 L/hr/70 kg and 13.7 L/70 kg, respectively. Simulated exposures with doses of 0.1–0.2 mg/kg approximated therapeutic exposures in adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension receiving 5 mg or 10 mg doses. Ambrisentan lowered plasma brain natriuretic peptide concentrations (452 ± 479 to 413 ± 462; p = 0.046), Fontan pressures (16.8 ± 2.9 to 15.6 ± 2.9; p = 0.01), and indexed pulmonary vascular resistance (2.3 ± 0.9 to 1.8 ± 0.6; p = 0.01) with no drug-related adverse events. Conclusions: Ambrisentan clearance is reduced following Fontan surgery, perhaps reflecting abnormal hepatic metabolism in this population. The observed safety profile appears favorable and hemodynamic effects of ambrisentan may be beneficial for Fontan patients.
Prior regional Cerebral Blood Flow (rCBF) studies in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have been limited by small, highly selective, non-representative samples that have yielded variable and poorly replicated findings. The aim of this study was to compare rCBF measures in a large, more representative community sample of adults with MDD and healthy control participants. This is a cross-sectional, retrospective multi-site cohort study in which clinical data from 338 patients 18-65 years of age with a primary diagnosis of MDD were retrieved from a central database for 8 privately owned, private-pay outpatient psychiatric centers across the United States. Two
Background: Children with giant coronary artery aneurysms (CAA) after Kawasaki disease (KD) are at substantial risk of thrombosis. There are currently no evidence-based guidelines for optimal thromboprophylactic therapy in these children. Methods: The North American Kawasaki Disease Registry was queried to identify all patients with giant CAA (maximum coronary artery z-score >10) and their antithrombotic therapy. Freedom from thrombosis was modelled using the Kaplan-Meier method; thrombotic complication rate was calculated per patient-year/month of follow-up. Results: n=202 patients with giant CAA were included, of whom 28 (14%) experienced either coronary artery thrombosis with or without myocardial infarction. Freedom from thrombotic complications was 92%, 85% and 79% at 3 months, 5 and 10 years after diagnosis, respectively. Non-pharmacological factors associated with increased risk of thrombotic complications included higher maximum coronary artery z-scores (HR: 1.7/+10 SD, p<0.001), higher number of coronary artery branches with giant CAA (HR: 2.6/branch, p<0.001), higher number of discrete CAA (HR: 1.4/aneurysm, p=0.001) and presence of complex CAA (involving the bifurcation or non-discrete; HR: 3.0, p=0.05). A total of 982 patient-years of follow-up were available for analysis (11% low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), 32% warfarin, 57% antiplatelet alone). All patients were maintained on ASA, with 47 patients (23%) also receiving clopidogrel. Patients while on LMWH had the highest event rate, at 1 event per 13 patient-years, compared to 1 per 39 on warfarin and 1 per 33 on no anticoagulant. However, LMWH was predominantly prescribed immediately after the acute phase, which is also the highest risk phase for thrombosis. When limiting analysis to events within 3 months of the acute phase, patients on LMWH had the lowest event rate at 1 per 46 patient-months, compared to 1 per 27 on warfarin and 1 per 33 on no anticoagulant (p=NS). Conclusions: Current thromboprophylaxis strategies in patients with giant CAA have suboptimal efficacy, and residual thrombosis risk persists. New anticoagulants/antiplatelet agents should be assessed in this population to determine if they provide better, safer and more tolerable thromboprophylaxis.
Introduction: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is estimated to occur in 6-10 per 1000 births. Although epidemiology and outcomes for term and near term infants with CHD are well described, data are limited for very and extremely preterm (VEP) infants. We used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID), a nationally representative administrative database, to evaluate epidemiology and outcomes for VEP infants (25 to 32 weeks gestational age, GA) with CHD. Methods: Two separate cohorts were defined from the KID: an epidemiologic cohort including birth hospitalizations in ‘03, ’06, ’09 and ‘12; and an outcomes cohort including hospitalizations at a children’s hospital or pediatric unit for infants < 1 month of age in ‘06 and ‘09. CHD was defined by ICD-9-CM codes with severe CHD defined as those defects expected to be universally diagnosed during a preterm birth hospitalization. Weighted multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) for mortality, adjusted for race, sex, GA, year, small for gestational age and hospital teaching status. Results: Our epidemiologic and outcomes cohorts included 249,011 and 49,893 VEP infants, respectively. Incidence of CHD (116/1000 VEP births) and severe CHD (7/1000 VEP births) were both higher than previously reported in term infants. Relative risk of severe CHD in VEP vs term infants was 4.80 (95% CI 4.76, 4.84) and decreased with increasing GA (5.7 at 25 weeks GA to 4.3 at 31 weeks, p=0.005). Hospital mortality (Figure) was substantially higher for VEP infants with vs without severe CHD (26% vs 5%; adjusted OR 7.5 [95% CI: 5.9, 9.6]). Overall 16% of VEP infants with severe CHD underwent cardiac surgery during the neonatal hospitalization with mortality after surgery of 16%. Conclusions: CHD incidence is increased in very and extremely preterm infants and outcomes are poor. These data underscore the need for interventions to decrease preterm delivery when severe CHD is diagnosed in utero.
Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit a cholinergic deficiency similar to that found in Alzheimer's disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors, used to treat Alzheimer's disease, may improve cognitive function in individuals with DS. This is the first investigation of the safety and efficacy of rivastigmine (an acetyl and butyryl cholinesterase inhibitor) on specific cognitive domains in pediatric DS. Eleven subjects with DS (ages 10–17 years) were treated with a liquid formulation of rivastigmine. Four subjects experienced no adverse events (AEs). Seven subjects reported AEs that were mild, transient and consistent with adverse events typically noted with cholinesterase inhibitors. Significant improvements were found in overall adaptive function (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and Clinician's Interview-Based Impression of Change), attention (Leiter Attention Sustained tests A and B), memory (NEPSY: Narrative and Immediate Memory for Names subtests) and language (Test of Verbal Expression and Reasoning and Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals–Preschool) domains. Improved language performance was found across all functional levels. These results underscore the need for larger, controlled studies employing a carefully constructed test battery capable of measuring the full scope of performance across multiple domains and a wide range of functional levels.
Background We sought to characterize health care usage for adolescents with congenital heart defects (CHDs) using population-based multisite surveillance data. Methods and Results Adolescents aged 11 to 18 years with ≥1 CHD-related diagnosis code and residing in 5 US sites were identified in clinical and administrative data sources for the years 2011 to 2013. Sites linked data on all inpatient, emergency department (ED), and outpatient visits. Multivariable log-binomial regression models including age, sex, unweighted Charlson comorbidity index, CHD severity, cardiology visits, and insurance status, were used to identify associations with inpatient, ED, and outpatient visits. Of 9626 eligible adolescents, 26.4% (n=2543) had severe CHDs and 21.4% had Charlson comorbidity index >0. At least 1 inpatient, ED, or outpatient visit was reported for 21%, 25%, and 96% of cases, respectively. Cardiology visits, cardiac imaging, cardiac procedures, and vascular procedures were reported for 38%, 73%, 10%, and 5% of cases, respectively. Inpatient, ED, and outpatient visits were consistently higher for adolescents with severe CHDs compared with nonsevere CHDs. Adolescents with severe and nonsevere CHDs had higher health care usage compared with the 2011 to 2013 general adolescent US population. Adolescents with severe CHDs versus nonsevere CHDs were twice as likely to have at least 1 inpatient visit when Charlson comorbidity index was low (Charlson comorbidity index =0). Adolescents with CHDs and public insurance, compared with private insurance, were more likely to have inpatient (adjusted prevalence ratio, 1.5 [95% CI, 1.3-1.7]) and ED (adjusted prevalence ratio, 1.6 [95% CI, 1.4-1.7]) visits. Conclusions High resource usage by adolescents with CHDs indicates a substantial burden of disease, especially with public insurance, severe CHDs, and more comorbidities.
