CONFOCAL-2 Interventional Pilot Study

December 16, 2025 updated by: Dr. Gordon Boyd, Queen's University

Cerebral Oxygenation and Neurological Outcomes FOllowing CriticAL Illness-2 (CONFOCAL-2) Interventional Pilot Study

This study is designed to assess the feasibility of identifying and administering individualized blood pressure targets early critical illness. Recent literature suggests that individualized targets adapted to cerebral perfusion and autoregulation capacity may improve patient outcomes. In this study, cerebral autoregulation capacity is assessed by simultaneous trending of near-infared spectroscopy and arterial blood pressure for 24 hours, within patients' first 2 days in the ICU. The investigators will assess the feasibility of identifying patients' personal targets, then treating patients according to their personal targets for 48 hours. Clinical outcomes explored will include delirium.

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.
Interventional

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.
16

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

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
    • Ontario
      • Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 2V7
        • Kingston Health Sciences Center

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Admitted to a critical care unit requiring one or more of the following:

    1. Respiratory failure requiring invasive mechanical ventilation with an expected duration >24 hours or
    2. Shock of any etiology. Shock is defined by the need for one of the following vasopressors/inotropes: i. Dopamine ≥7.5 mcg/kg/min, ii. Dobutamine ≥5 mcg/kg/min, iii. Norepinephrine ≥5 mcg/min, iv. Phenylephrine ≥75 mcg/min, v. Epinephrine at any dose, vi. Milrinone at any dose (if used in conjunction with another agent), vii. Vasopressin ≥0.03 u/min (if used in conjunction with another agent)
  2. Presence of an arterial line

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Admission to the ICU > 24 hours
  2. Life expectancy <24 hours
  3. Primary central nervous system admitting diagnosis (e.g. traumatic brain injury, stroke, subarachnoid haemorrhage, cardiac arrest).
  4. Pregnancy
  5. Any reason that the subject may not be able to participate in the follow up assessments (i.e. limb amputation, paresis, neuromuscular disorders)

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
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.
Experimental: Autoregulation-based precision blood pressure management
Blood pressure maintenance based on cerebral oximetry autoregulation measurement.
Drug: Autoregulation-based precision blood pressure management
Blood pressure maintenance based on cerebral oximetry autoregulation measurement. Blood pressure is raised or lowered via norepinephrine (dose range 1-10 mcg/min) and labetalol (dose range 0-2 mg/min), respectively, to match the researched blood pressure targets.

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
Recruitment rate
Time Frame: From period of study start to finish, an average of one year.
Target recruitment rate = 1 patient/month
From period of study start to finish, an average of one year.
Determine optimal mean arterial pressure target (MAPopt)
Time Frame: For 24 hours after enrollment
Aim to determine MAPopt in >75% of patients within the first 24 hours
For 24 hours after enrollment
Maintain MAP within MAPopt range
Time Frame: for 24-72 hours after enrolment
Aim to maintain patients in MAPopt range for >90% of the time for 48 hours
for 24-72 hours after enrolment

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
Correlation between delirium and cerebral autoregulation
Time Frame: Up to day 30 after ICU admission or the day of patient discharge
Patients will be assessed daily for delirium throughout their entire hospital stay (ICU and ward; up to day 30) using a validated screening tool; the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM)-ICU while in ICU, and the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) while on the ward. Trained researchers will administer the CAM-ICU once daily, at a time that is convenient for the patient, their family, and the medical team directing their care. The ICU discharge day will be considered to be the day that the attending writes orders to discharge to avoid the influence of delayed ICU discharge because of the lack of ward beds. We will calculate the correlation between the proportion of time spent with dysfunctional cerebral autoregulation and the duration of time with delirium.
Up to day 30 after ICU admission or the day of patient discharge
Correlation between delirium and time outside MAPopt
Time Frame: Up to day 30 after ICU admission or the day of patient discharge
Patients will be assessed daily for delirium throughout their entire hospital stay (ICU and ward; up to day 30) using a validated screening tool; the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM)-ICU while in ICU, and the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) while on the ward. Trained researchers will administer the CAM-ICU once daily, at a time that is convenient for the patient, their family, and the medical team directing their care. The ICU discharge day will be considered to be the day that the attending writes orders to discharge to avoid the influence of delayed ICU discharge because of the lack of ward beds. We will calculate the correlation between the proportion of time spent with dysfunctional cerebral autoregulation and the duration of time with delirium.
Up to day 30 after ICU admission or the day of patient discharge
Exploratory short-term delirium outcomes
Time Frame: Up to day 30 after ICU admission or the day of patient discharge
Patients will be assessed daily for delirium throughout their entire hospital stay (ICU and ward; up to day 30) using a validated screening tool; the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM)-ICU while in ICU, and the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) while on the ward. Trained researchers will administer the CAM-ICU once daily, at a time that is convenient for the patient, their family, and the medical team directing their care. The ICU discharge day will be considered to be the day that the attending writes orders to discharge to avoid the influence of delayed ICU discharge because of the lack of ward beds. We will calculate the correlation between the proportion of time spent with outside of MAPopt and the duration of time with delirium.
Up to day 30 after ICU admission or the day of patient discharge

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.
Queen's University

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.
July 29, 2022

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.
February 8, 2025

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.
February 8, 2025

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).
March 26, 2025

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 16, 2025

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 22, 2025

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.
December 22, 2025

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.
December 16, 2025

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, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

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.
  • 6033269

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

We are open to sharing individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article after deidentification (text, tables, figures, appendices). Data sharing would be available to interested researchers for IPD meta-analysis or other research aims for which IPD is necessary. Proposals should be directed to study contact Dr. Gordon Boyd at Gordon.Boyd@kingstonhsc.ca. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following article publication

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal and received ethics approval for their proposal

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

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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