Ultrafiltration in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: An Observational Cohort Study

May 29, 2026 updated by: Dr. David Horne, IWK Health Centre

The Optimal Ultrafiltration Protocol in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: An Observational Cohort Study

Infants and children undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) can experience systemic inflammation that prolongs post-operative recovery. Ultrafiltration is an intra-opreative technique that is hypothesized to extract circulating inflammatory mediators during the CPB time. There have been only a few small studies looking at a limited number of inflammatory marker profiles in this context. Our institution uses an innovative form of ultrafiltration "subzero-balance simple-modified ultrafiltration" (SBUF-SMUF) throughout the entire CPB time. SBUF-SMUF has been our standard of care for the last 5 years. This observational seeks to describe the clinical and immunologic outcomes of infants and children undergoing cardiac surgery with CBP and SBUF-SMUF.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Nova Scotia
      • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3K 6R8
        • IWK Health Centre

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 15 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Infants and children less than 30kg undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and subzero-balance simple modified ultrafiltration (SBUF-SMUF).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Congenital cardiac patients (< 30kg) that have been consented to a planned cardiac surgery procedure requiring cardiopulmonary bypass at the IWK Health Centre.
  • Patient or family consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient or family refusal to participate.
  • Known genetic syndrome with multi-organ abnormalities and immune dysfunction such as DiGeorge Syndrome, Trisomy 18 or 13, Noonan syndrome.
  • Known immunodeficiency syndrome or bone marrow pathology.
  • Severe liver disease with abnormal synthetic liver function tests.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
SBUF-SMUF
All patients underwent standard of care cardiac surgery, cardiopulmonary bypass and SBUF-SMUF with effluent removal of 30 ml/kg/hr and physiologic solution replacement of 25ml/kg/hr.
Procedure: SBUF-SMUF
Intra-operative continuous ultrafiltration

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Inflammatory Mediator C3a
Time Frame: Sampled at the end of CPB
C3a
Sampled at the end of CPB
Inflammatory Mediator C5a
Time Frame: Measured at the end of CPB
Measured at the end of CPB
Inflammatory Mediator IL-6
Time Frame: Measured at the end of CPB
Measured at the end of CPB
Inflammatory Mediator IL-8
Time Frame: Measured at the end of CPB
Measured at the end of CPB

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Intensive Care Unit Length of Stay
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 week.
Standardized Discharge Criteria
Through study completion, an average of 1 week.
Acute Kidney Injury
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 week.
Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria with Stages 1-3
Through study completion, an average of 1 week.
Vasoactive-Ventilation-Renal Score
Time Frame: Upon ICU Admission
Scale 0-60. Higher value resembles medical instability and a worse prognosis.
Upon ICU Admission
Vasoactive-Inotrope Score
Time Frame: Upon ICU admission
Scale 0-40. Higher value resembles medical instability and a worse prognosis.
Upon ICU admission
Ventilation Index
Time Frame: Upon ICU Admission
Scale 0-40. Higher value resembles medical instability and a worse prognosis.
Upon ICU Admission
Oxygenation Index
Time Frame: Upon ICU admission
Scale 0-20. Higher value resembles medical instability and a worse prognosis.
Upon ICU admission
Ventilation Time
Time Frame: Upon ICU Admission
Time on mechanical ventillator.
Upon ICU Admission

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Platelet Transfusion
Time Frame: Measured through 24-hours post-operative
volume in ml/kg
Measured through 24-hours post-operative
Red Blood Cell Transfusion
Time Frame: Measured through 24-hours post-operative
Number
Measured through 24-hours post-operative
Plasma Transfusion
Time Frame: Measured through 24-hours post-operative
number
Measured through 24-hours post-operative
Total Chest Tube Output
Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 week.
Volume in ml/kg
Through study completion, an average of 1 week.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
IWK Health Centre

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 1, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 30, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 30, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 8, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 9, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 13, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 29, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
December 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 1024869

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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