Platform of Randomized Adaptive Clinical Trials in Critical Illness

NCT ID: NCT05440851

Last Updated: 2025-11-17

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

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

6250 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2023-04-30

Study Completion Date

2027-03-31

Brief Summary

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PRACTICAL is a randomized multifactorial adaptive platform trial for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF). This platform trial will evaluate novel interventions for patients with AHRF across a range of severity states (i.e., not intubated, intubated with lower or higher respiratory system elastance, requiring extracorporeal life support) and across a range of investigational phases (i.e., preliminary mechanistic trials, full-scale clinical trials). AHRF is a common and life-threatening clinical syndrome affecting millions globally every year. Patients with AHRF are at high risk of death and long-term morbidity. Patients who require invasive mechanical ventilation are at risk of ventilator-induced lung injury and ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction. New treatments and treatment strategies are needed to improve outcomes for these very ill patients.

Utilizing advances in Bayesian adaptive trial design, the platform will facilitate efficient yet rigorous testing of new treatments for AHRF, with a particular focus on mechanical ventilation strategies and extracorporeal life support techniques as well as pharmacological agents and new medical devices.

The platform is designed to enable evaluation of novel interventions at a variety of stages of investigation, including pilot and feasibility trials, trials focused on mechanistic surrogate endpoints for preliminary clinical evaluation, and full-scale clinical trials assessing the impact of interventions on patient-centered outcomes.

Interventions will be evaluated within therapeutic domains. A domain is defined as a set of interventions that are intended to act on specific mechanisms of injury using different variations of a common therapeutic strategy. Domains are intended to function independently of each other, allowing independent evaluation of multiple therapies within the same patient.

Once feasibility is established, Bayesian adaptive statistical modelling will be used to evaluate treatment efficacy at regular interim adaptive analyses of the pre-specified outcomes for each intervention in each domain. These adaptive analyses will compute the posterior probabilities of superiority, futility, inferiority, or equivalence for pre-specified comparisons within domains. Each of these potential conclusions will be pre-defined prior to commencing the intervention trial. Decisions about trial results (e.g., concluding superiority or equivalence) will be based on pre-specified threshold values for posterior probability. The primary outcome of interest, the definitions for superiority, futility, etc. (i.e., the magnitude of treatment effect) and the threshold values of posterior probability required to reach conclusions for superiority, futility etc., will vary from intervention to intervention depending on the phase of investigation and the nature of the intervention being evaluated. All of these parameters will be pre-specified as part of the statistical design for each intervention trial.

In general, domains will be designed to evaluate treatment effect within four discrete clinical states: non-intubated patients, intubated patients with low respiratory system elastance (\<2.5 cm H2O/(mL/kg)), intubated patients with high respiratory system elastance (≥2.5 cm H2O/(mL/kg)), and patients requiring extracorporeal life support. Where appropriate, the model will specify dynamic borrowing between states to maximize statistical information available for trial conclusions. In this perpetual trial design, different interventions may be added or dropped over time.

Where possible, the platform will be embedded within existing data collection repositories to enable greater efficiency in outcome ascertainment. Standardized systems for acquiring both physiological and biological measurements are embedded in the platform, to be acquired at sites with appropriate training, expertise, and facilities to collect those measurements.

Detailed Description

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EXPAND-ECLS domain: The EXPAND-ECLS pilot trial is a multi-center, randomized, open-label, feasibility trial, embedded as a domain within the PRACTICAL platform trial. The ULTIMATE arm of this domain will evaluate the effect of ultra-low intensity ventilation facilitated by CO2 removal through VV-ECMO versus best current conventional ventilation on all-cause hospital mortality among patients with early moderate-severe AHRF with high respiratory system elastance receiving potentially injurious mechanical ventilation. The PROACTIVE arm of this domain will evaluate the effect of ECMO-facilitated strategy of earlier awakening, extubation, and rehabilitation versus best current conventional ventilation on all-cause hospital mortality among patients with early moderate-severe AHRF with high respiratory system elastance receiving potentially injurious mechanical ventilation.

Invasive Mechanical Ventilation (IMV) Strategies domain: The IMV Strategies domain will evaluate multiple novel invasive ventilation strategies in comparison to conventional lung-protective ventilation in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF). Multiple approaches to mechanical ventilation are used, and the optimal approach is unknown. An efficient strategy to identify the best strategy is to compare multiple potential approaches simultaneously to determine more rapidly (a) which interventions are least effective (and should be dropped), and (b) which interventions result in the best outcomes for patients. In the current domain design, we will compare the current recommended ventilation strategy to two new approaches: a strategy that targets lung-inflating (driving) pressure instead of lung-inflating (tidal) volume, and a strategy that aims to maintain an optimal level of breathing effort to prevent diaphragm atrophy and injury while maintaining safe lung-inflating pressures.

CORT-E2 domain: The Corticosteroid Early and Extended (CORT-E2) Trial is a phase III, multicentre Bayesian randomized controlled trial (RCT), which includes two cohorts within the domain; one examining the role of early corticosteroids as compared to not extending in persisting AHRF due to COVID or non-COVID (Extended Cohort).

ESCAPE domain: Evaluating Subphenotypes in Immunocompromized Patients with ARF (ESCAPE) Domain is a prospective, multicentre observational cohort study, to identify subphenotypes across immunocompromised patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) using clinical characteristics and biomarkers. This study will prospectively collect biomarkers at the onset of AHRF which will allow us to characterize the underlying pathophysiology of AHRF with better precision.

FLUDRO domain: The Fludrocortisone in Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure with Airspace Disease (FLUDRO-1) domain is a phase II I trial. The trial aims to provide direct clinical evidence to resolve a critical long-standing question regarding the use of steroids in the treatment of AHRF with airspace disease.

FAST-3 domain: The Nebulized Furosemide for the Treatment of Pulmonary Inflammation in Patients with Respiratory Failure Secondary to Pulmonary Infection domain is a phase III trial. It aims to use nebulized furosemide as supportive therapy to improve Advanced Respiratory Support (ARS) free days up to day 28 in critically ill patients with AHRF.

IMV-ECLS domain: The Invasive Mechanical Ventilation Strategies in Venovenous-Extracorporeal Life Support (PRESSURE; Positive Pressure to Maintain Lung Recruitment during Extracorporeal Life Support for Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory failure) is a pilot and feasibility trial. It aims to identify which positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) strategies improve lung function in patients with AHRF supported by ECLS.

IMPROV domain: The Inspiratory Muscle Training in Patients Receiving Ongoing Mechanical Ventilation is a pilot and feasibility RCT. It is designed to establish the feasibility of a definitive RCT of inspiratory muscle training to accelerate recovery from AHRF.

Conditions

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Respiratory Insufficiency Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Complication Mechanical Ventilation Pressure High

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Outcome Assessors
While blinding of treatment allocation is an important mechanism for mitigating bias, the nature of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and the complexity of interventions to be tested in PRACTICAL may make it difficult to blind treatment allocation in some cases. Blinded allocation will be implemented where possible.

Where possible, clinical outcomes will be collected by research personnel who are masked to randomized treatment assignment. Even where research personnel cannot be blinded to treatment assignment, bias arising will be mitigated by selection of relatively objective endpoints not easily influenced by knowledge of treatment assignment.

Study Groups

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Ultra-protective ventilation facilitated by extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal.

Patients randomized to the this intervention group will receive VV-ECMO with the ventilator set to minimize driving pressure and respiratory rate for ultra-protective ventilation.

Group Type OTHER

Ultra-Protective Ventilation Facilitated by Extracorporeal Support

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to this intervention group will receive VV-ECMO with the ventilator set to minimize driving pressure and respiratory rate for ultra-protective ventilation.

Lung-Protective Ventilation (LPV)

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to LPV will receive standard of care lung-protective ventilation with conventional limits on tidal volume and plateau airway pressure.

VV ECMO-facilitated strategy of earlier awakening, extubation and rehabilitation

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to this intervention group will receive VV-ECMO where the sedation will be reduced and the ventilator will will be adjusted to facilitate spontaneous breathing.

Invasive Mechanical Ventilation (IMV) Strategies domain

Patients on invasive mechanical ventilation in the low elastance, high elastance, and ECLS states will be randomized to minimum of one of two mechanical ventilation interventions (including conventional lung-protective ventilation as a control group). Most sites will randomize patients to two arms (one of which is the control group, LPV). A subset of sites will randomize patients to all three or four arms.

Group Type OTHER

Lung-Protective Ventilation (LPV)

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to LPV will receive standard of care lung-protective ventilation with conventional limits on tidal volume and plateau airway pressure.

Driving Pressure-Limited Ventilation (DPL)

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to DPL will receive mechanical ventilation set to maintain a safe limit on driving pressure and plateau airway pressure, without less for the tidal volume.

Lung- and Diaphragm-Protective Ventilation and Sedation (LDPVS)

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to LDPVS will have ventilation and sedation adjusted to maintain lung-distending pressure and respiratory effort in a safe target range.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT)

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to EIT will have PEEP titration compared via the Overdistension Collapse Intercept (ODCL) versus that obtained using a standard high PEEP table.

The Corticosteroid Early and Extended (CORT-E2) Randomized Controlled Trial domain

Patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) requiring invasive or non-invasive respiratory support will be randomized in the Early Cohort to receive corticosteroid or usual care without corticosteroids. Patients treated with corticosteroids who still require invasive or non-invasive respiratory support after 10 days will be randomized in the Extended Cohort to extending corticosteroid use or stopping corticosteroids after 10 days.

Group Type OTHER

Early Cohort corticosteroid dose

Intervention Type DRUG

Patients randomized to receive corticosteroids will receive dexamethasone 20mg daily for 5 days and then 10mg for an additional 5 days, for a total of 10 days from the time of randomization (or until ICU discharge or death, whichever comes first); after 10 days dexamethasone will be stopped without a taper.

Extended Cohort corticosteroid dose

Intervention Type DRUG

Patients randomized to receive extended corticosteroids will receive dexamethasone 10mg for an additional 10 days. At the end of the additional 10 days (day 20 of corticosteroids), the dexamethasone dose will be halved to 5mg for another 5 days (to reduce the risk of adrenal insufficiency) and then stopped (a total of 25 days or until ICU discharge or death, whichever comes first).

Usual care without routine corticosteroids

Intervention Type DRUG

Patients randomized to this arm will be managed according to usual care. They will receive corticosteroids only if prescribed by the clinician.

Usual care without extending corticosteroids

Intervention Type DRUG

Corticosteroids will stop after 10 days. Other management will be according to usual care. Patients will receive corticosteroids only if prescribed by the clinician.

The Nebulized Furosemide for the Treatment of Pulmonary Inflammation (FAST-3) domain

Patients with Respiratory Failure Secondary to Pulmonary Infection.

Group Type OTHER

4 mL of nebulized 0.9% saline minutes every 6 hours over 30 minutes every 6 hours.

Intervention Type DRUG

4 mL of nebulized 0.9% saline minutes every 6 hours over 30 minutes every 6 hours.

40 mg of nebulized furosemide in 4 mL of saline nebulized over 30 minutes every 6 hours

Intervention Type DRUG

40 mg of nebulized furosemide in 4 mL of saline nebulized over 30 minutes every 6 hours

The Invasive Mechanical Ventilation Strategies in Venovenous-Extracorporeal Life Support (IMV-ECLS)

Patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure receiving extracorporeal life support will be randomized to one of three positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) strategies.

Group Type OTHER

PEEP-20

Intervention Type OTHER

fixed high positive end-expiratory pressure at 20 cmH2O

PEEP-AOP

Intervention Type OTHER

positive end-expiratory pressure set according to airway opening pressure

PEEP-10

Intervention Type OTHER

fixed lower positive end-expiratory pressure at 10 cmH2O

The Fludrocortisone in Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure with Airspace Disease (FLUDRO-1) domain

Patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure with airspace disease will be randomized to usual care with or without fludrocortisone.

Group Type OTHER

Usual care with fludrocortisone

Intervention Type DRUG

Best practice standard of care prescribed by treating team + fludrocortisone 50μg enterally daily for 7 days.

Usual care without fludrocortisone

Intervention Type DRUG

Best practice standard of care prescribed by treating team without fludrocortisone. After randomization, if a clinical indication develops for fludrocortisone as part of standard of care, administration of fludrocortisone is not prohibited. Any fludrocortisone administered to participants in the control arm will be documented.

VV ECMO-facilitated strategy of earlier awakening, extubation and rehabilitation

Patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure in the high elastance state will be randomized to ultra-protective ventilation facilitated by extracorporeal carbon dioxide removal or to VV ECMO-facilitated strategy of earlier awakening, extubation and rehabilitation or to conventional lung-protective ventilation.

Group Type OTHER

Ultra-Protective Ventilation Facilitated by Extracorporeal Support

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to this intervention group will receive VV-ECMO with the ventilator set to minimize driving pressure and respiratory rate for ultra-protective ventilation.

Lung-Protective Ventilation (LPV)

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to LPV will receive standard of care lung-protective ventilation with conventional limits on tidal volume and plateau airway pressure.

VV ECMO-facilitated strategy of earlier awakening, extubation and rehabilitation

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients randomized to this intervention group will receive VV-ECMO where the sedation will be reduced and the ventilator will will be adjusted to facilitate spontaneous breathing.

Evaluating Subphenotypes in Immunocompromized Patients with ARF (ESCAPE) Domain

We will conduct a prospective, multicenter, observational study (no treatment arm is involved) in 7 ICUs in Canada over 3 years. We will include adult patients (≥18 years) admitted to the ICU with AHRF who have an underlying immunocompromised condition.

Biomarker Collection: Samples for serum biomarkers will be collected within 24 hours of fulfilling inclusion criteria, on days 0, 3 and 7. We will collect biomarkers associated with inflammatory conditions, epithelial injury, endothelial dysfunction and coagulation abnormalities - which have been shown to characterize lung injury or critical illness.

Data Collection: We will collect demographic, comorbidity, immunocompromised defining condition, clinical, respiratory physiology, and serum biomarker data for each patient.

Group Type OTHER

no treatment / intervention arm is involved

Intervention Type OTHER

This trial is a prospective, multicenter, observational study (no treatment arm is involved).

Inspiratory Muscle Training in Patients Receiving Ongoing Mechanical Ventilation (IMPROV) Domain

This domain studies inspiratory muscle training (IMT) during and after mechanical ventilation in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF).

Group Type OTHER

Usual care

Intervention Type OTHER

Patients will be treated according to usual care.

Early Routine IMT

Intervention Type OTHER

* Training commences once patients meet readiness to wean criteria
* 3 sets of 10 breaths, delivered twice daily using a device placed at the airway opening to apply an external resistive pressure load, until hospital discharge, death, or day 45 after randomization, whichever occurs first.
* Device load will initially be set to 30% of the MIP.
* Device load will be titrated upward (in increments of 5-10% of MIP, to a maximum of 60% of MIP) as needed to achieve a modified Borg dyspnea score of 7/10 or visible accessory muscle use.

Interventions

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Ultra-Protective Ventilation Facilitated by Extracorporeal Support

Patients randomized to this intervention group will receive VV-ECMO with the ventilator set to minimize driving pressure and respiratory rate for ultra-protective ventilation.

Intervention Type OTHER

Lung-Protective Ventilation (LPV)

Patients randomized to LPV will receive standard of care lung-protective ventilation with conventional limits on tidal volume and plateau airway pressure.

Intervention Type OTHER

Driving Pressure-Limited Ventilation (DPL)

Patients randomized to DPL will receive mechanical ventilation set to maintain a safe limit on driving pressure and plateau airway pressure, without less for the tidal volume.

Intervention Type OTHER

Lung- and Diaphragm-Protective Ventilation and Sedation (LDPVS)

Patients randomized to LDPVS will have ventilation and sedation adjusted to maintain lung-distending pressure and respiratory effort in a safe target range.

Intervention Type OTHER

Early Cohort corticosteroid dose

Patients randomized to receive corticosteroids will receive dexamethasone 20mg daily for 5 days and then 10mg for an additional 5 days, for a total of 10 days from the time of randomization (or until ICU discharge or death, whichever comes first); after 10 days dexamethasone will be stopped without a taper.

Intervention Type DRUG

Extended Cohort corticosteroid dose

Patients randomized to receive extended corticosteroids will receive dexamethasone 10mg for an additional 10 days. At the end of the additional 10 days (day 20 of corticosteroids), the dexamethasone dose will be halved to 5mg for another 5 days (to reduce the risk of adrenal insufficiency) and then stopped (a total of 25 days or until ICU discharge or death, whichever comes first).

Intervention Type DRUG

Usual care without routine corticosteroids

Patients randomized to this arm will be managed according to usual care. They will receive corticosteroids only if prescribed by the clinician.

Intervention Type DRUG

Usual care without extending corticosteroids

Corticosteroids will stop after 10 days. Other management will be according to usual care. Patients will receive corticosteroids only if prescribed by the clinician.

Intervention Type DRUG

Usual care with fludrocortisone

Best practice standard of care prescribed by treating team + fludrocortisone 50μg enterally daily for 7 days.

Intervention Type DRUG

Usual care without fludrocortisone

Best practice standard of care prescribed by treating team without fludrocortisone. After randomization, if a clinical indication develops for fludrocortisone as part of standard of care, administration of fludrocortisone is not prohibited. Any fludrocortisone administered to participants in the control arm will be documented.

Intervention Type DRUG

4 mL of nebulized 0.9% saline minutes every 6 hours over 30 minutes every 6 hours.

4 mL of nebulized 0.9% saline minutes every 6 hours over 30 minutes every 6 hours.

Intervention Type DRUG

40 mg of nebulized furosemide in 4 mL of saline nebulized over 30 minutes every 6 hours

40 mg of nebulized furosemide in 4 mL of saline nebulized over 30 minutes every 6 hours

Intervention Type DRUG

PEEP-20

fixed high positive end-expiratory pressure at 20 cmH2O

Intervention Type OTHER

PEEP-AOP

positive end-expiratory pressure set according to airway opening pressure

Intervention Type OTHER

PEEP-10

fixed lower positive end-expiratory pressure at 10 cmH2O

Intervention Type OTHER

VV ECMO-facilitated strategy of earlier awakening, extubation and rehabilitation

Patients randomized to this intervention group will receive VV-ECMO where the sedation will be reduced and the ventilator will will be adjusted to facilitate spontaneous breathing.

Intervention Type OTHER

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT)

Patients randomized to EIT will have PEEP titration compared via the Overdistension Collapse Intercept (ODCL) versus that obtained using a standard high PEEP table.

Intervention Type OTHER

no treatment / intervention arm is involved

This trial is a prospective, multicenter, observational study (no treatment arm is involved).

Intervention Type OTHER

Usual care

Patients will be treated according to usual care.

Intervention Type OTHER

Early Routine IMT

* Training commences once patients meet readiness to wean criteria
* 3 sets of 10 breaths, delivered twice daily using a device placed at the airway opening to apply an external resistive pressure load, until hospital discharge, death, or day 45 after randomization, whichever occurs first.
* Device load will initially be set to 30% of the MIP.
* Device load will be titrated upward (in increments of 5-10% of MIP, to a maximum of 60% of MIP) as needed to achieve a modified Borg dyspnea score of 7/10 or visible accessory muscle use.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Acute hypoxemic respiratory failure meeting all of the following criteria;

1. New or worsening respiratory symptoms developing within 2 weeks prior to the onset of need for oxygen or respiratory support
2. Receiving any of the following types of oxygen or respiratory support for at least 4 hours prior to the time of randomization; supplemental oxygen at 10 L/min or higher, high flow nasal oxygen (at any flow rate), invasive ventilator support, extra-corporeal life support (ECLS), or non-invasive ventilator support
3. Minimum FiO2 ≥ 0.40 (for venturi mask, high flow nasal cannula, or invasive or non-invasive ventilation) or oxygen flow rate ≥10 L/min on face mask for at least 4 hours at the time of evaluation for eligibility unless already on extra-corporeal life support
2. Age ≥ 18 years
3. Hypoxemia not primarily attributable to acute heart failure, fluid overload, or pulmonary embolism (PE)


1. Receiving invasive Endotracheal mechanical ventilation for ≤ 72 hours.5 days
2. Early Moderate-severe hypoxemic respiratory failure with a PaO2/FiO2≤150200 mmHg for at least 6 hours

7. Severe hypoxemia with PaO2/FiO2 \< 80mmHg for \> 6 hours at time of screening.
8. Severe hypercapnic respiratory failure with pH \< 7.25 and PaCO2 \> 60 mmHg for \> 6 hours at time of screening.
9. Expected mechanical ventilation duration \< 48 hours at time of screening.
10. Confirmed diffuse alveolar hemorrhage from vasculitis.
11. Contraindications to limited anticoagulation (e.g., active GI bleeding, bleeding diathesis).
12. Previous hypersensitivity/anaphylactic reaction to heparin or heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
13. Neurologic conditions at risk for or undergoing treatment for intracranial hypertension
14. Underlying illness with life expectancy \< 1 year
15. Pregnancy (due to unknown effects of PaCO2 changes on placental blood flow)
16. Respiratory failure known or suspected to be caused by COVID-19.


1. Intubated patients, not on ECLS, with low normalized respiratory elastance (\<2.5 cm H2O/(ml/kg predicted body weight)) at the time of eligibility assessment OR
2. Intubated patients, not on ECLS, with high normalized respiratory system elastance (≥2.5 cm H2O/(ml/kg predicted body weight)) at the time of eligibility assessment OR
3. FOR STUDY SITES PARTICIPATING IN THE LDPVS INTERVENTION: Patient is on ECLS at the time of eligibility assessment. Note: Patients in this state are only eligible for the LPV or LDPVS intervention
4. FOR STUDY SITES PARTICPATING IN THE EIT INTERVENTION: PaO2/FiO2 (if available) \< 200 mm Hg at randomization. If PaO2/FiO2 has not been measured, SpO2 = 97% on FiO2 =60%.


1. Within 72 hours of admission to an ICU
2. New unilateral or bilateral airspace disease


1. Are admitted to an ICU
2. Have already received 10 days of corticosteroid specifically for acute respiratory failure, this will include patients: (a) randomized to corticosteroid arm in Early Cohort, (b) patients with COVID receiving corticosteroids as standard of care , (c) and others who have received corticosteroids for AHRF
3. Ongoing AHRF requiring HFNC, NIV (continuous positive airway pressure \[CPAP\] or bilevel) or invasive ventilation


1\. Within 72 hours of admission to an ICU


1. Patient is in a PRACTICAL eligible platform state and requires advanced respiratory support (ARS) defined as one of the following:

a. Invasive mechanical ventilation with FiO2 \> 40% b. Non-Invasive Ventilation (\> 4 hours consecutively with FiO2 \> 40%) defined as: i. CPAP or BiPAP (any settings or interface) ii. HFNC (flow \> 40 liter per minute)
2. PaO2/FiO2 \< 300 mm Hg or SpO2/FiO2 \< 315 (if PaO2/FiO2 unavailable due to lack of arterial blood gas at the time of screening). For SpO2/FiO2, criteria are SpO2 ≤ 97% on FiO2 ≥ 40% on both of the 2 hours immediately preceding eligibility assessment. If an arterial blood gas can be obtained, then a PaO2/FiO2 ratio is preferable.
3. Patient commenced advanced respiratory support \< 48 hours prior to randomization.


1. Patients with severe AHRF who have an underlying immunocompromised condition

Patients may be enrolled from the wards or ICU.

Immunocompromised patients include:

1. Any patients requiring long term (\>30 days) corticosteroids (\>20 mg/day),
2. Any patients receiving non-corticosteroid immunosuppressive medications within the prior 3 months,
3. Acquired or inherited immunodeficiency syndrome,
4. Recipients of solid organ transplant,
5. Active hematologic malignancy (diagnosis or receiving treatment within prior 6 months),
6. Active solid tumor (diagnosis or receiving treatment within the prior 6 months) or
7. Any patients who have undergone allogeneic or autologous hematopoietic cell transplant in the prior 6 months (HCT).




1\. Patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation for AHRF as defined by the PRACTICAL platform trial criteria above.

2\. Within 7 calendar days of intubation

Exclusion Criteria

1. Extubation is planned or anticipated on the day of screening
2. ICU discharged is planned or anticipated on the day of screening
3. If the patient is moribund and deemed unlikely to survive 24 hours (as determined by the clinical team)
4. If the patient is being transitioned to a fully palliative philosophy of care


1. Patients over 70 years of age.
2. Currently receiving any form of ECLS (e.g., Venovenous, venoarterial, or hybrid configuration).
3. Chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure defined as PaCO2 \> 60 mmHg in the outpatient setting.
4. Home mechanical ventilation (non-invasive ventilation or via tracheotomy) except for CPAP/BiPAP used solely for sleep-disordered breathing.
5. Actual body weight exceeding 1 kg per centimeter of height.

1\. PaO2/FiO2 \>300 mm Hg or (S/F \>250, if PaO2/FiO2 has not been measured) at the time of randomization 2. Chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure defined as PaCO2\>60mmHg in the outpatient setting 3. Home mechanical ventilation (non-invasive ventilation or via tracheotomy), not including nocturnal CPAP applied by nasal or face mask or home tracheotomy if not ventilated 4. Severe hypoxemia with PaO2/FiO2\<80mmHg for \>6 consecutive hours at the time of randomization 5. Severe hypercapnic respiratory failure with pH\<7.25 and PaCO2\>60mmHg for \>6 consecutive hours at the time of randomization 6. Anticipated duration of mechanical ventilation is \<48 hours from the time of screening 7. Duration of mechanical ventilation during current ICU admission is \>72 hours 8. Previously diagnosed neuromuscular disorder 9. Current diagnosis of severe acute brain injury (e.g. ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, traumatic brain injury) with Glasgow Coma Scale ≤ 8 10. Baseline weight prior to or at hospital admission less than 35 kilograms 11. Receiving extracorporeal life support without continuous invasive mechanical ventilatory support


1. Receiving only low flow oxygen therapy less than or equal to 15L/min
2. Corticosteroid use during the 14 days prior to screening
3. Existing indication for corticosteroids
4. High suspicion for/or confirmed COVID infection
5. Acute traumatic brain injury during the index hospital admission
6. Allergy to dexamethasone


1. An alternate indication for ongoing corticosteroids
2. Acute traumatic brain injury this hospital admission


1. Known hypersensitivity to fludrocortisone
2. An inability to receive fludrocortisone due to lack of enteral access
3. An indication to prescribe fludrocortisone for a reason that is unrelated to a current episode of pneumonia or acute respiratory failure, such as Addison's disease
4. Belief of the treating clinical team that study participation would not be in the best interest of the patient


1. Patient commenced advanced respiratory support \> 48 hours to time of randomization.
2. Known history of severe chronic pulmonary disease e.g., pre-infection requirement for home oxygen therapy or presence of chronic hypercapnia (PaCO2 \> 60 mmHg); mild - moderate disease is still eligible in the absence of chronic hypercapnia or need for chronic oxygen therapy.
3. Currently enrolled in another trial studying investigational anti-inflammatory therapy, excluding established treatments used in clinical practice such as corticosteroids.
4. Known allergy to furosemide or sulfonamide drugs. If the patient is allergic to sulfonamide drugs but has received in the past or is currently receiving furosemide without incident, they can be enrolled since cross-reactivity between furosemide and sulfonamide agents is rare.



1. Patient is expected to be liberated from mechanical ventilation within 24 hours
2. Known or suspected chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure defined as PaCO2\>60mmHg in the outpatient setting
3. Home mechanical ventilation (non-invasive ventilation or via tracheotomy), not including nocturnal CPAP applied by nasal or face mask or home tracheotomy if not ventilated
4. Known pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum without chest tube placement sustained during current ICU admission\* (re-confirm immediately prior to randomization)
5. Patient is admitted primarily for acute brain injury (stroke, traumatic brain injury, etc.)
6. Previously diagnosed chronic neuromuscular disorder
7. Patient has an implantable cardiac defibrillator or pacemaker
8. Planned to be transferred to another hospital before ICU discharge
9. Already receiving a regimen of inspiratory muscle training using external resistive device or diaphragm neurostimulation
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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University Health Network, Toronto

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Ewan Goligher, MD, PhD

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

University Health Network, Toronto

Eddy Fan, MD, PhD

Role: STUDY_CHAIR

University Health Network, Toronto

Niall Ferguson, MD, MSc

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Health Network, Toronto

Lorenzo Del Sorbo, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Health Network, Toronto

Bram Rochwerg, MD, MSc

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

McMaster University

Bijan Teja, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Unity Health Toronto

John Muscedere, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Queens University

Laveena Munshi, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Mount Sinai Hospital, Canada

Dmitry Rozenberg, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Health Network, Toronto

Anastasia Newman, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

McMaster University

Locations

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University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Los Angeles, California, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of San Diego (UCSD)

San Diego, California, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Colorado Hospital

Aurora, Colorado, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Maryland Medical System

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

The Johns Hopkins Medicine

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

University of Michigan Health

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Washington University

St Louis, Missouri, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Nebraska Medical Center

Omaha, Nebraska, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Mount Sinai New York City

New York, New York, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)

Portland, Oregon, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Rhode Island Hospital

Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC)

Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Vanderbilt university medical center

Nashville, Tennessee, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Utah Health

Farmington, Utah, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Sentara Health

Norfolk, Virginia, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

Nepean Hospital

Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

Wollongong Hospital

Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

Flinders Medical Centre

Bedford Park, Southern Adelaide, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

St Vincents Sydney

Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

Bendigo Health Victoria

Bendigo, Victoria, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

University Hospital Geelong

Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

The Austin Hospital

Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Calgary

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

University of Alberta/Edmonton University Hospital

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Nanaimo Regional General Hospital

Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Surrey Memorial Hospital

Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

St. Paul's Hospital

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal Jubilee Hospital

Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

St. Boniface Hospital

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Health Sciences Centre - Winnipeg

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Grace Hospital

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Nova Scotia Health Authority

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

William Osler Health System

Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Brantford General Hospital

Brantford, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Kingston Health Sciences Centre

Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

London Health Sciences Centre

London, Ontario, Canada

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Oak Valley Health

Markham, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

North York General Hospital

North York, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Lakeridge Hospital

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

The Ottawa Hospital

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Ottawa Heart Research Institute

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Mackenzie Health

Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Niagara Health Systems

Saint Catherines, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Scarborough Health Network

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Unity Health Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Sinai Health, Mount Sinai Hospital

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital

Vaughan, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Windsor Regional Health

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

MUHC - McGill University Health Centre (Glen Site)

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Sacre Coeur du Montreal

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Centre Hospitalier Universite de Sherbrooke

Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Trois Riviere (CHAUR)

Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal University Saskatoon

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

University Health Network

Toronto, , Canada

Site Status RECRUITING

Clínica Universidad de La Sabana

Chía, Cundinamarca, Colombia

Site Status RECRUITING

Azienda Socio-Sanitaria Territoriale Ovest Milanese

Legnano, MI, Italy

Site Status RECRUITING

Ospedale Maggiore, Fondazione IRCCS Ca Granda, Milano

Milan, MI, Italy

Site Status RECRUITING

ASST Grande Ospedale Metropolitano Niguarda

Milan, MI, Italy

Site Status RECRUITING

Auckland City Hospital

Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand

Site Status RECRUITING

Middlemore Hospital

Auckland, , New Zealand

Site Status RECRUITING

Taranaki Base Hospital

New Plymouth, , New Zealand

Site Status RECRUITING

Rotorua Hospital

Rotorua, , New Zealand

Site Status RECRUITING

King Abdulaziz Medical City- Riyadh

Riyadh, , Saudi Arabia

Site Status RECRUITING

National University of Singapore

Singapore, , Singapore

Site Status RECRUITING

Parc Taulí University Hospital

Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain

Site Status ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Hospital Universitario de Getafe

Getafe, Madrid, Spain

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Hospital Josep Trueta (Girona)

Girona, , Spain

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States Australia Canada Colombia Italy New Zealand Saudi Arabia Singapore Spain

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Rongyu ( Cindy) Jin

Role: CONTACT

4163404800 ext. 7613

Cathy Chau

Role: CONTACT

4167272260

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Cathy Chau

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

21-5940

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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