Determining the Impact of Penicillin in Latent RHD: The GOAL Trial

NCT ID: NCT03346525

Last Updated: 2019-10-01

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

807 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-06-26

Study Completion Date

2020-11-30

Brief Summary

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Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) affects at least 32.9 million people, mostly children living in low-resource settings. Long-term intramuscular benzathine penicillin G (BPG) prophylaxis is proven to prevent progression of chronic valve changes in patients with established rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and to allow regression of valve changes in patients with a history of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) with mild RHD. However, in low-resource settings ARF is an elusive diagnosis, and most patients (85%) are diagnosed only when RHD is severe and irreversible, medications ineffective, and surgical intervention is expensive and/or unavailable.

Identification of latent RHD might be an opportunity to substantially reduce RHD morbidity and mortality. However, detection of latent RHD is only important if outcomes are improved. The appropriate management of children with latent RHD is unknown and no formal recommendations exist. While some clinicians prescribe penicillin prophylaxis for children with latent RHD, clinical equipoise exists regarding the best practice.

To fill this gap, the investigators propose a randomized controlled trial in children with latent RHD to evaluate the efficacy of BPG prophylaxis compared to no prophylaxis. Our primary outcome measure is progression of valvular changes on echocardiogram at 2 years. A sample size of 916 children is needed to detect a 50% reduction of progression (expected range 7.5-12.5% progression in BPG-arm vs. 15%-25% progression in control-arm) with 90% power.

AIM 1: To compare the proportion of children (aged 5-17 years) with latent RHD receiving BPG prophylaxis who progress to worse valvular disease at 2-years compared to children not receiving BPG prophylaxis.

Hypothesis 1: Prophylaxis with BPG will result in fewer children with latent RHD showing progression of echocardiographic valve changes at 2 years compared to children with latent RHD not receiving BPG prophylaxis. (The investigators expect at least a 50% relative reduction in progression in the BPG arm: range 15%-25% control arm vs. 7.5-12.5% BPG-arm.)

AIM 2: To compare the proportion of children (aged 5-17 years) with latent RHD receiving BPG prophylaxis who regress to improved valvular disease at 2-years compared to children not receiving BPG prophylaxis.

Hypothesis 2: Prophylaxis with BPG will result in more children with latent RHD showing regression of echocardiographic valve changes by 2 years compared to children with latent RHD not receiving BPG prophylaxis. (The investigators expect at least a 50% relative increase in regression in the BPG arm: range 10-20% control arm vs. 20-40% BPG arm.)

This study is highly significant because it will establish if BPG prophylaxis improves outcomes for children with latent RHD. Feasibility will be ensured through the experience, resources, community support, and accessible patient population of our investigational team. The results of our study will have high impact, immediately informing international policy on the standard of care for children diagnosed with latent RHD and shaping, over 2-3 years, practical and scalable programs that could substantially decrease the global burden of RHD.

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Rheumatic Heart Disease in Children Latent Rheumatic Heart Disease Rheumatic Heart Disease Heart Diseases

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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BPG Arm

Intramuscular BPG prophylaxis (600,000 IU for children \<30kg, 1.2 million IU for children ≥30kg), every 28 days

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

intramuscular benzathine penicillin G (BPG) prophylaxis

Intervention Type DRUG

Intramuscular BPG prophylaxis (600,000 IU for children \<30kg, 1.2 million IU for children ≥30kg), every 28 days.

Control Arm

No prophylaxis

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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intramuscular benzathine penicillin G (BPG) prophylaxis

Intramuscular BPG prophylaxis (600,000 IU for children \<30kg, 1.2 million IU for children ≥30kg), every 28 days.

Intervention Type DRUG

Other Intervention Names

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benzathine penicillin G BPG penicillin prophylaxis

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Children will be eligible for study participation if they are (1) between the ages of 5-17 years and (2) have a new diagnosis of latent RHD detected through primary school echo screening and confirmed by blinded consensus review. All children will be recruited from schools in Gulu District in Uganda.

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients will be excluded from the study for the following reasons:

* Known history of ARF or RHD
* Newly diagnosed RHD by echo screening consider to be "missed clinical RHD" as compared to true latent RHD including: \> mild pathological valvular regurgitation at the mitral valve or aortic valve, mitral stenosis (mean MV gradient ≥ 5mmHg) (WHF, definite B), aortic stenosis (mean AV gradient ≥ 20mmHg)
* Structural or functional cardiac defects, other than those consistent with RHD, that were known prior to or detected through echo screening (except patent foramen ovale, small atrial septal defect, small ventricular septal defect, small patent ductus arteriosus).
* Prior allergic reaction to penicillin
* Any known conditions predisposing to thrombocytopenia or hypercoagulability, or other contraindications to intramuscular injection
* Any known co-morbid conditions (HIV, renal deficiencies, severe malnutrition among others) that have resulted in prescription of regular antibiotic prophylaxis
Minimum Eligible Age

5 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

17 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Thrasher Research Fund

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Cape Town

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Uganda Heart Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Karp Family Foundation

UNKNOWN

Sponsor Role collaborator

Gift of Life International

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Children's National Research Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Andrea Beaton

Pediatric Cardiologist, Associate Professor of Pediatrics

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Andrea Beaton, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Cincinnati Children's

Locations

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GOAL Office

Gulu, , Uganda

Site Status

Countries

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Uganda

References

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WHO - Global Burden of Disease. 2015;2015.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

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Zuhlke LJ, Beaton A, Engel ME, Hugo-Hamman CT, Karthikeyan G, Katzenellenbogen JM, Ntusi N, Ralph AP, Saxena A, Smeesters PR, Watkins D, Zilla P, Carapetis J. Group A Streptococcus, Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease: Epidemiology and Clinical Considerations. Curr Treat Options Cardiovasc Med. 2017 Feb;19(2):15. doi: 10.1007/s11936-017-0513-y.

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Remenyi B, Wilson N, Steer A, Ferreira B, Kado J, Kumar K, Lawrenson J, Maguire G, Marijon E, Mirabel M, Mocumbi AO, Mota C, Paar J, Saxena A, Scheel J, Stirling J, Viali S, Balekundri VI, Wheaton G, Zuhlke L, Carapetis J. World Heart Federation criteria for echocardiographic diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease--an evidence-based guideline. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2012 Feb 28;9(5):297-309. doi: 10.1038/nrcardio.2012.7.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Beaton A, Lu JC, Aliku T, Dean P, Gaur L, Weinberg J, Godown J, Lwabi P, Mirembe G, Okello E, Reese A, Shrestha-Astudillo A, Bradley-Hewitt T, Scheel J, Webb C, McCarter R, Ensing G, Sable C. The utility of handheld echocardiography for early rheumatic heart disease diagnosis: a field study. Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2015 May;16(5):475-82. doi: 10.1093/ehjci/jeu296. Epub 2015 Jan 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Engelman D, Okello E, Beaton A, Selnow G, Remenyi B, Watson C, Longenecker CT, Sable C, Steer AC. Evaluation of Computer-Based Training for Health Workers in Echocardiography for RHD. Glob Heart. 2017 Mar;12(1):17-23.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.gheart.2015.12.001. Epub 2016 Mar 16.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Ploutz M, Lu JC, Scheel J, Webb C, Ensing GJ, Aliku T, Lwabi P, Sable C, Beaton A. Handheld echocardiographic screening for rheumatic heart disease by non-experts. Heart. 2016 Jan;102(1):35-9. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2015-308236. Epub 2015 Oct 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Lopes EL, Beaton AZ, Nascimento BR, Tompsett A, Dos Santos JP, Perlman L, Diamantino AC, Oliveira KK, Oliveira CM, Nunes MDCP, Bonisson L, Ribeiro AL, Sable C; Programa de RastreamentO da Valvopatia Reumatica (PROVAR) investigators. Telehealth solutions to enable global collaboration in rheumatic heart disease screening. J Telemed Telecare. 2018 Feb;24(2):101-109. doi: 10.1177/1357633X16677902. Epub 2016 Nov 4.

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Okello E, Longenecker CT, Beaton A, Kamya MR, Lwabi P. Rheumatic heart disease in Uganda: predictors of morbidity and mortality one year after presentation. BMC Cardiovasc Disord. 2017 Jan 7;17(1):20. doi: 10.1186/s12872-016-0451-8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Beaton A, Okello E, Aliku T, Lubega S, Lwabi P, Mondo C, McCarter R, Sable C. Latent rheumatic heart disease: outcomes 2 years after echocardiographic detection. Pediatr Cardiol. 2014 Oct;35(7):1259-67. doi: 10.1007/s00246-014-0925-3. Epub 2014 May 15.

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Beaton A, Okello E, Rwebembera J, Grobler A, Engelman D, Alepere J, Carapetis J, DeWyer A, Lwabi P, Mirabel M, Mocumbi AO, Nakitto M, Ndagire E, Nunes MCP, Omara IO, Sarnacki R, Scheel A, Wilson N, Zuhlke L, Karthikeyan G, Sable CA, Steer AC. Refining Risk Stratification Among Children With Latent Rheumatic Heart Disease. Circulation. 2023 Jun 13;147(24):1848-1850. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.122.063194. Epub 2023 Jun 12. No abstract available.

Reference Type DERIVED
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Beaton A, Okello E, Rwebembera J, Grobler A, Engelman D, Alepere J, Canales L, Carapetis J, DeWyer A, Lwabi P, Mirabel M, Mocumbi AO, Murali M, Nakitto M, Ndagire E, Nunes MCP, Omara IO, Sarnacki R, Scheel A, Wilson N, Zimmerman M, Zuhlke L, Karthikeyan G, Sable CA, Steer AC. Secondary Antibiotic Prophylaxis for Latent Rheumatic Heart Disease. N Engl J Med. 2022 Jan 20;386(3):230-240. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2102074. Epub 2021 Nov 13.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 34767321 (View on PubMed)

Scheel A, Mirabel M, Nunes MCP, Okello E, Sarnacki R, Steer AC, Engelman D, Zimmerman M, Zuhlke L, Sable C, Beaton A. The inter-rater reliability and individual reviewer performance of the 2012 world heart federation guidelines for the echocardiographic diagnosis of latent rheumatic heart disease. Int J Cardiol. 2021 Apr 1;328:146-151. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2020.11.013. Epub 2020 Nov 10.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 33186665 (View on PubMed)

Beaton A, Okello E, Engelman D, Grobler A, Scheel A, DeWyer A, Sarnacki R, Omara IO, Rwebembera J, Sable C, Steer A. Determining the impact of Benzathine penicillin G prophylaxis in children with latent rheumatic heart disease (GOAL trial): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Am Heart J. 2019 Sep;215:95-105. doi: 10.1016/j.ahj.2019.06.001. Epub 2019 Jun 8.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 31301533 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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E.W. "Al" Thrasher Award

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

GOAL: RHD RCT

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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