Advance Targeted Transfusion in Anemic Cardiac Surgical Patients for Kidney Protection: A Proof of Concept Pilot Study

One of the major complications of heart surgery is kidney injury, which occurs in up to 30% of patients and is associated with poor outcomes including death. We have found that patients whose hemoglobin concentration before surgery is lower than normal (i.e., are anemic) are at particularly high risk for this complication, likely because their hemoglobin concentration drops to very low levels during surgery, which reduces delivery of oxygen to the kidneys, increases blood loss, and necessitates blood transfusions. We and others have shown that these events are individually harmful to the kidneys, and can lead to kidney injury. We believe that we can prevent these events from occurring, and as a result reduce the risk of kidney injury, if we transfuse anemic patients at least 1 day before surgery rather than during surgery.

In anemic patients undergoing cardiac surgery, prophylactic transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs) before surgery will reduce the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) after surgery by mitigating three inter-related risk factors for AKI.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Kidney Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Advanced red blood cell transfusion

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Ontario
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2C4
      • Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients undergoing non-emergent aortocoronary bypass (ACB) surgery, or valve surgery, combined ACB and valve, or aortic root repair requiring CPB with a preoperative Hb concentration between 100 and 120 g/L.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any conditions that may limit the ability of patients to tolerate the intervention:
• Severe aortic or mitral valve stenosis
• History of congestive heart failure within 30 days of surgery or severe ventricular dysfunction (ejection fraction < 30%)
• Severe (> 60%) left main coronary artery stenosis or unstable angina within 30 days of surgery

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: RBC; Advance RBC transfusion' (ART) group	Other: Advanced red blood cell transfusion; Sixty anemic (Hg 100-120 g/L) adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB will be randomized to the 'advance RBC transfusion' (ART) group or the standard-of-care RBC transfusion' (SRT) group (1:1 ratio). In the ART group, subjects will receive 1-2 units of stored RBCs 1-2 days before surgery to reach a target Hb of 130-140 g/L. Each unit of blood will be transfused over 2 hours under medical supervision, with appropriate monitoring and management of fluid status to ensure patients are not over-hydrate
Other: Standard Care; Standard-of-care RBC transfusion (SRT) group	Other: Advanced red blood cell transfusion; Sixty anemic (Hg 100-120 g/L) adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with CPB will be randomized to the 'advance RBC transfusion' (ART) group or the standard-of-care RBC transfusion' (SRT) group (1:1 ratio). In the ART group, subjects will receive 1-2 units of stored RBCs 1-2 days before surgery to reach a target Hb of 130-140 g/L. Each unit of blood will be transfused over 2 hours under medical supervision, with appropriate monitoring and management of fluid status to ensure patients are not over-hydrate

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Effects on perioperative (within 72 hours of termination of CPB) anemia will be measured by: incidence of profound perioperative anemia (Hb < 70 g/L) and by nadir perioperative Hb concentration.	preoperatively, intraoperatively, postoperatively, daily until discharge

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
(Primary)Effects on periop RBC transfusion rates measured by: incidence and amount of periop RBC transfusions. Effects on periop coagulation measured by: incidence and amount of coagulation product transfusions and incidence of surgical re-exploration.	preoperatively, intraoperatively, postoperatively, daily until discharge

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Health Network, Toronto
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Keyvan Karkouti, MD, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Ontario,Canada

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: July 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 12, 2009
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 12, 2009
• First Posted (Estimate): March 13, 2009

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): February 25, 2013
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 22, 2013
• Last Verified: February 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Anemia; Acute Kidney Injury; Cardiac surgery; RBC transfusion; Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass
• Other Study ID Numbers: 08-1083-B