Corticosteroids in Postoperative Critically Ill Neonates With Low Cardiac Output Syndrome With Congenital Heart Disease
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2009-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Babies having heart surgery often have problems after surgery with their blood pressure and
getting enough blood to their bodies. To treat this they require medicines to keep their
blood pressure high enough to get blood to their bodies. The side effects of these medicines
include fast heart rates and increasing the amount of work the heart has to do.
Corticosteroids are made by the body and help to use the energy in the food people eat,
control the chemicals in their blood and maintain their blood pressure. Corticosteroids made
by the body may be decreased in patients that have major surgery. Corticosteroids help to
increase blood pressure and can decrease the amount of blood pressure medicines a patient
requires. Corticosteroids have been shown to increase blood pressure in patients with
bacterial infections and in very small, premature babies but have only been studied in a few
babies who have had heart surgery. The way corticosteroids work is unknown but may involve
decreasing the body's response to being on a heart-lung machine or give steroids not being
made by the patient.
Corticosteroids have been shown to be helpful in treating many diseases. The purpose of this
study is to look at the effects of corticosteroids in babies who have had heart surgery and
need blood pressure medicines in the intensive care unit after surgery. Our idea is that
getting corticosteroids will allow us to decrease the amount of blood pressure medicines each
patient needs and improve how they do after surgery. We also plan to do blood tests to help
determine how the corticosteroids are working.
It will be randomly determined if the subject receives corticosteroids or salt water. The
subject will receive a corticosteroid or salt water once a day for five days. Their vital
signs will be monitored, especially blood pressure and their need for medicines to increase
their blood pressure. Blood work will also be obtained to determine their body's ability to
make steroids.