Outcomes in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients Receiving Cellcept

November 19, 2013 updated by: Kirk R. Kanter, MD, Emory University

The Relationships Between Mycophenolic Acid Levels, T-Cell Subsets and Outcomes in Pediatric Heat Transplant Recipients Receiving Mycophenolate Mofetil (Cellcept)

The survival of children who have received heart transplants has greatly improved over the last ten years. One reason for this is better control over rejection. Rejection medications require a delicate balance of enough medicine to work without causing side effects. It is a goal to avoid both rejection and side effects from the anti-rejection medicines. Usually several medicines are used together to prevent rejection. One of these medicines is often Mycophenolic Acid or CellceptThis medicine has been used longer for adults than is has for children. More information is needed on using it for children. The dose is usually determined by the patient's weight or body surface area.

There have been some early studies of the use of Cellcept, but none have proven a relationship between the blood level of the drug and how well it works. More also needs to be known about how this drug works with other anti-rejection drugs and how it works in boys and girls. This study will look more closely at proper dosing, how Cellcept works with other anti-rejection medications, side effects, and any differences in how this medicine works in boys and girls.

All patients in the study will be receiving Cellcept and have blood levels of the drug drawn. Results of their usual treatment and testing will be recorded and evaluated for signs of rejection. All the information will be analyzed. Results of this study will be reported to transplant committees locally and nationally.

Study Overview

Status

Terminated

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Pediatric heart transplant recipients receiving MMF will undergo study testing to measure MPA levels by the HPLC method and T-cell subsets by flow cytometry method. As standard of care they receive histological grading of routine endomyocardial biopsies using the International Society of Heart Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) grading scale. The data obtained from standard assessments will include medications, echocardiographic reports, pre-and post biopsy assessments/physical exams, hospital records for any inpatient hospitalization, and any laboratory assessments. Also, information will be collected on all patients which will be examined for tolerance and success (side effects and rejection) of immunosuppressive therapy.

In newly transplanted patients, study testing will occur at the same time as standard of care biopsies which are typically 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, 8 months, 10 months, 12 months. If the patient has additional visits due to rejection or changes in immunosuppression, then more frequent study testing may be done per investigator preference. Previously transplanted patients will have study testing at the same time as their standard of care visits, usually annually.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

    • Georgia
      • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
        • Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

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

Ages Eligible for Study

2 weeks to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Heart Transplant Recipients who are transplanted during the course of this study.
  • Age 2 weeks to 18 years
  • Receiving or plan to receive Mycophenolate mofetil therapy
  • Patient/Family has signed an informed assent/consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients that are unable to follow protocol schedule of assessment
  • Patients with chronic autoimmune disease
  • Patients who have received a multiple organ transplant (i.e. heart-liver, heart-lung etc.)

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: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Examine t-cell subsets to determine the correlation between MIP levels and clinical outcome as well as effect on T-cell proliferation.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Examine histologic grading of routine endomyocardial biopsies to determine the correlation between MPS levels and acute rejections.

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kirk Kanter, MD, Emory University

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.

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

January 1, 2003

Study Completion

May 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 12, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 12, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 14, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 21, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 19, 2013

Last Verified

November 1, 2013

More Information

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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