Incidence of Acute Lung Injury: The Alien Study (ALIEN)

October 9, 2018 updated by: Jesus Villar, Villar, Jesus, M.D.

Acute Lung Injury: Epidemiology and Natural History. The ALIEN Study

Acute lung injury is a clinical syndrome of rapid onset of acute respiratory failure. It represents a significant public health issue. Patients with acute lung injury require admission into critical care units for advanced life support and utilize considerable health care resources. Published epidemiological studies on acute lung injury in the last 20 years are difficult to compare because they used different definitions and length of time for evaluation. Less than five studies have collected information for an entire year, and none of them have evaluated the degree of oxygenation failure under standard settings. We will perform a one-year prospective audit of all patients admitted with acute lung injury in almost 40 ICUs in Spain.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a clinical syndrome of rapid onset of non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema manifested clinically by hypoxemia (PaO2/FiO2≤300 mmHg) and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates. When the hypoxemia is severe (PaO2/FiO2≤200 mmHg) it is termed the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). It represents a significant public health issue. Patients with ALI or ARDS require admission into critical care units for advanced life support and utilize considerable health care resources.

An immense plethora of translational knowledge has been acquired since the first description of ARDS in 1967. However, estimates of the incidence of ARDS and ALI have varied widely, and the true magnitude of this health problem still remains unclear. Current estimates of the incidence of ALI/ARDS range from 15 to 80 cases per 100.000 population, or almost 40.000 cases per year in Spain. Combined mortality rates for ALI/ARDS range between 30-45%. ALI and ARDS occur as a complication or as the primary cause of critical illness in patients, usually after severe infection or trauma.

Published epidemiological studies on ALI and ARDS in the last 20 years are difficult to compare. Some reports have used different definitions for ALI and ARDS and others have evaluated the incidence during a short period of time (from days to several weeks) and then extrapolated their data to estimates of a one-year incidence. Very few studies have collected information for an entire year, and none of them have evaluated the degree of hypoxemia under standard ventilatory settings, as it has been proposed recently by the HELP Network (Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2007; 176:795-804).

As a result, we propose to perform a one-year prospective audit of all ALI and ARDS patients managed in 40 ICUs from 17 Spanish provinces (15 provinces in the mainland and 2 provinces in the Canary Islands). We intend to collect data from all patients admitted with or developing ALI/ARDS with the aim to understand the epidemiology and natural history of acute lung injury. These provinces are scattered through the Spain and are representative of the demographic differences across the country.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

300

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

    • Canary Islands
      • Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain, 35010
        • Hospital Universitario Dr. Negrin

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients admitted into intensive care units of participating hospitals across Spain meeting the American-European Consensus Conference definition of acute lung injury.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:American-European Consensus Conference Definition criteria for acute lung injury:(i) rapid onset of acute lung injury not of cardiac origin; (ii) bilateral pulmonary infiltrates on chest X ray; (iii) PaO2/FIO2<300 mmHg.

Exclusion Criteria: None

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
A
All patients meeting the American European Consensus definition of acute lung injury will be included, regardless of etiology of respiratory failure. Specifically, all patients with rapid onset of acute lung injury not of cardiac origin (no indication of heart failure or a pulmonary capillary wedge pressure of greater than 18 mmHg, with pulmonary infiltrates in all four quadrants and a PaO2/FIO2 of > 200 to <300 mmHg or ≤ 200 mmHg.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Incidence of acute lung injury and the acute respiratory distress syndrome
Time Frame: 12 months
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Risk factor associated with acute lung injury
Time Frame: 12 months
12 months
Mortality rates of acute lung injury, acute respiratory distress syndrome and combined
Time Frame: 12 months
12 months
Identification of clinical data associated with the highest or lowest mortality
Time Frame: 12 months
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jesus Villar, MD, PhD, Hospital Universitario Dr. Negrin, Las Palmas, Spain
  • Principal Investigator: Robert M Kacmarek, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA

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)

September 1, 2008

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2010

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 15, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 15, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

August 18, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 11, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 9, 2018

Last Verified

October 1, 2018

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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