Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) in Infants With Krabbe Disease

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) as a Tool to Identify Infants With Krabbe Disease in Urgent Need of Treatment

This study is designed to learn about early brain development in children with Krabbe disease, and to use diffusion tensor imaging as an early diagnostic tool to identify newborns at risk for the disease.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Krabbe Disease

Detailed Description

This study is designed to learn about early brain development in children with Krabbe disease and to use diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) as an early diagnostic tool to differentiate children with infantile Krabbe disease from newborns who are disease free but have very low enzyme levels. Additionally, this study will determine how certain structures in the brain will develop over 24 months in children with infantile Krabbe disease and those without disease who have low enzyme levels. This study will also reveal information about the learning and motor development of children, and will help researchers predict outcomes after treatment.

Krabbe disease is a rare, childhood neurodegenerative disorder caused by galactocerebrosidase deficiency. It results in rapid demyelination, progressive spasticity, mental deterioration, blindness, deafness, seizures, and death. Based on previously published findings, treatment with unrelated umbilical cord blood transplantation is now standard for Krabbe disease, provided that the treatment occurs within the first weeks of life and before symptoms appear.

Once newborns are identified through population screening, there is no objective measure to predict if the baby will develop the most frequent rapidly progressive infantile forms of Krabbe or have a slower juvenile or adult form. Phenotype and genotype correlations are not possible because there are more than 150 mutations that can cause the disease and many polymorphisms in the normal population that affect the enzyme level.

There is an urgent clinical need to develop a predictive measure. To date, there are no available tools to classify infants into the infantile versus later forms. New advances in neuroimaging techniques have enabled scientists to quantify changes in brain growth and myelination early in life and before disease symptoms develop.

Knowledge from this study will help identify the window of opportunity for early intervention and treatment to prevent severe disability, and may lead to better treatment strategies.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 100

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15213
      • UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: No older than 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Children with a low levels of galactocerebrosidase, a family history of Krabbe disease or has been diagnosed with Krabbe disease, or is a child at risk of developing motor disability. Newborn screening State of New York and newborns with low enzyme.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Positive newborn screening test (low galactocerebrosidase)
2. Infantile Krabbe Disease diagnosed by confirmatory low levels of residual enzyme by Dr. Wenger's Lysosmal Storage Diseases laboratory at Jefferson's Medical College (contracted by New York State) and/or carrier status established because of family history of Krabbe Disease. Patients have to be less than 6 weeks old at the time of the first assessment
3. Children at risk of developing motor disability

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Diagnosis or physical signs of known genetic conditions or syndromes, serious medical or neurological conditions affecting growth and development (e.g., seizure disorder, diabetes, congenital heart disease) or sensory impairments such as vision or hearing loss
2. Children who may have suffered serious perinatal brain damage, children with birth weights less than 2000 grams and/or gestational ages of less than 34 weeks, or those with a history of intraventricular hemorrhage
3. Children who may have a contraindication for MRI (pacemaker, vascular stents, metallic ear tubes, other metal implants or braces).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Control
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

4

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Krabbe Disease; Children with infantile Krabbe disease
Low Enzyme/No Krabbe Disease; Children without disease who have low enzyme levels
Control; Children with no disease and normal enzyme levels
Motor Disability; Children at risk of developing motor disability

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of corticospinal tracts	at birth, 1 year and 2 years of age

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Motor development at birth, 1 year and 2 years of age	at birth, 1 year and 2 years of age
Analysis of DTI-Fractional Diffusion Anisotropy (FA) values of corticospinal tracts of newborns	at age (newborn-6 weeks), 12-months and 24-months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Pittsburgh
• Collaborators: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Deepa S Rajan, MD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh-UPMC

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Escolar ML, Poe MD, Provenzale JM, Richards KC, Allison J, Wood S, Wenger DA, Pietryga D, Wall D, Champagne M, Morse R, Krivit W, Kurtzberg J. Transplantation of umbilical-cord blood in babies with infantile Krabbe's disease. N Engl J Med. 2005 May 19;352(20):2069-81. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa042604.
• Provenzale JM, Escolar M, Kurtzberg J. Quantitative analysis of diffusion tensor imaging data in serial assessment of Krabbe disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005 Dec;1064:220-9. doi: 10.1196/annals.1340.040.

Helpful Links

• Information about the Program for the Study of Neurodevelopment in Rare Disorders

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: April 1, 2008
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 7, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 7, 2008
• First Posted (Estimated): November 10, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 22, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 20, 2023
• Last Verified: June 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Diffusion Tensor Imaging; Newborn; DTI; Motor Disability; Motor Development; Krabbe Disease
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Metabolic Diseases; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Demyelinating Diseases; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Lysosomal Storage Diseases; Lipid Metabolism Disorders; Brain Diseases, Metabolic; Brain Diseases, Metabolic, Inborn; Sphingolipidoses; Lysosomal Storage Diseases, Nervous System; Lipidoses; Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Leukoencephalopathies; Hereditary Central Nervous System Demyelinating Diseases; Leukodystrophy, Globoid Cell
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY20020124; R01NS061965 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)