Cooling in Mild Encephalopathy

NCT ID: NCT05889507

Last Updated: 2026-02-06

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

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

426 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2024-03-15

Study Completion Date

2030-01-01

Brief Summary

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The goal of this randomised control trial is to establish the safety and efficacy of whole-body hypothermia for babies with mild hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy, inform national and international guidelines, and establish uniform practice across the NHS.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does whole-body cooling (33.5±0.5°C) initiated within six hours of birth and continued for 72 hours, improve cognitive development at 24 (±2) months of age after mild neonatal encephalopathy compared with normothermia (37±0.5°C)?
2. Does a prospective trial-based economic evaluation support the provision of cooling therapy for mild encephalopathy in the NHS on cost-effectiveness grounds?

Participants will have the following interventions:

* Randomisation into one of the following groups

* Whole body hypothermia group
* Targeted normothermia group
* Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development 4th Edition (Bayley-IV) examination at 24 (±2) months of age.

Researchers will compare the mean Cognitive Composite Scale score from the Bayley IV examination between the two groups.

Detailed Description

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COMET is a phase III prospective multi-centre open label two-arm randomised controlled trial with an internal pilot and masked outcome assessments. Administration of cooling therapy cannot be masked.

All babies born at or after 36 weeks and requiring prolonged resuscitation at birth (defined as continued resuscitation at 10 minutes after birth or 10-minute Apgar score less than 6) or those with severe birth acidosis (defined as any occurrence of: pH =\<7.00 or Base deficit \>=16mmol/l in any cord or baby gas sample within 60 minutes of birth) and admitted to the neonatal unit will started on aEEG or EEG as a part of standard clinical care.

Neonatal doctors or advanced nurse practitioners (clinical team) will screen for eligibility using a structured neurological examination performed between 1 to 6 hours after birth.

Once parental consent is obtained, babies will be randomised to whole-body hypothermia or targeted normothermia within 6 hours of birth, using a web-based program. Initial assessment and randomisation (and initiation of whole-body hypothermia or targeted normothermia) will occur at the hospital of birth. The babies in both arms, who are born at a non-cooling centre (LNU or SCBU) will be then transferred to the nearest cooling centre (NICU) within 8 hours of birth for continued care.

Whole-body hypothermia (33.5±0.5°C) will be initiated within 6 hours of birth and continued for 72 hours using a servo-controlled cooling machine at the nearest available neonatal intensive care unit (cooling centre). Passive cooling methods will not be allowed. Whole-body hypothermia to 33.5±0.5°C for 72 hours is the duration and depth of cooling that is standard for babies with moderate or severe HIE in high income countries. To administer this intervention babies will be kept on a cooling mattress or blanket circulating a coolant/water, a rectal temperature probe will be inserted, and overhead radiant warmers will be switched off. The cooling device will be set to hypothermia mode and body temperature will be rapidly reduced to 33.5°C from 37.0°C and maintained within the target range of 33°C to 34°C.

In the Normothermia (Control group), the rectal temperature will be maintained at 37.0±0.5°C for the first 88 hours and any hyperthermia will be treated with a standardised protocol. Four hourly axillary temperature will be recorded during the first 88 hours. Babies in the control group who develop seizures (level 1 or level 2) and progress to moderate HIE between 6 to 24 hours may be treated with whole-body cooling for 72 hours as clinical care, although this is expected to occur in less than 5%.

Conventional MRI using standard 3D T1-weighted and 2D T2-weighted sequences and diffusion weighted imaging will be performed prior to discharge home.

The follow-up assessment will be done when the recruited babies are 24 (±2) months of age. The assessment will be carried out using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development IV. It is a validated and standardized scoring system that assesses development in three domains, that is cognition, language, and motor development. In addition, all infants will have a detailed neurological examination, including Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) for cerebral palsy, vision, and hearing assessment. Babies who die (the mortality rate is expected to be less than 1% in mild HIE) or who cannot be assessed with the Bayley-IV due to severe disability will be allocated a Cognitive Scale Composite score one point below the basal test score (i.e., score of 54). In all infants, PARCA-R (online or face to face) will be completed by the parents immediately prior to the Bayley IV assessments and CBCL (face to face only) after the Bayley IV assessments.

The data will be collected into a paper case report form (CRF) initially and then entered into electronic database at the participating sites. Data will include ante-natal, birth, and neonatal clinical information including gestational age, birth weight, gender, Apgar scores, birth history, delivery room resuscitation to assess the baseline comparability of the groups, core body temperature for assessment of intervention, details of the hospital course, laboratory investigations and MR imaging for safety monitoring, and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 24 (±2) months of age for primary outcome evaluation.

Conditions

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Neonatal Encephalopathy Newborn Asphyxia

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Investigators Outcome Assessors
Administration of cooling therapy cannot be masked. The 24 (±2) months of age assessments will be performed by a central team of 2 to 3 examiners, masked to the allocation.

Study Groups

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Whole body hypothermia

Whole-body hypothermia (33.5±0.5°C) will be initiated within 6 hours of birth and continued for 72 hours using a servo-controlled cooling machine at the nearest available neonatal intensive care unit (cooling centre).

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Whole body hypothermia

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Whole-body hypothermia (33.5±0.5°C) initiated within 6 hours of birth and continued for 72 hours. The rectal temperature will be maintained at 33.5±0.5°C using a servo-controlled cooling machine.

Supportive neonatal intensive care

Intervention Type OTHER

Neonatal intensive care monitoring and support including ventilatory and inotropic support as clinically indicated

Follow up assessment at 2 years of age

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

The assessment will be carried out using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development IV. In addition, all infants will have a detailed neurological examination, including Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) for cerebral palsy, vision, and hearing assessment. Babies who die or who cannot be assessed with the Bayley-IV due to severe disability will be allocated a Cognitive Scale Composite score one point below the basal test score. PARCA-R will be completed by the parents immediately.

Normothermia

The axillary temperature will be maintained at 37±0.5°C using servo-controlled incubators for the first 80 hours and any hyperthermia will be treated with a standardised protocol.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Targeted normothermia

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

The axillary temperature will be maintained at 37±0.5°C for the first 80 hours and any hyperthermia will be treated with a standardised protocol.

Supportive neonatal intensive care

Intervention Type OTHER

Neonatal intensive care monitoring and support including ventilatory and inotropic support as clinically indicated

Follow up assessment at 2 years of age

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

The assessment will be carried out using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development IV. In addition, all infants will have a detailed neurological examination, including Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) for cerebral palsy, vision, and hearing assessment. Babies who die or who cannot be assessed with the Bayley-IV due to severe disability will be allocated a Cognitive Scale Composite score one point below the basal test score. PARCA-R will be completed by the parents immediately.

Interventions

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Whole body hypothermia

Whole-body hypothermia (33.5±0.5°C) initiated within 6 hours of birth and continued for 72 hours. The rectal temperature will be maintained at 33.5±0.5°C using a servo-controlled cooling machine.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Targeted normothermia

The axillary temperature will be maintained at 37±0.5°C for the first 80 hours and any hyperthermia will be treated with a standardised protocol.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Supportive neonatal intensive care

Neonatal intensive care monitoring and support including ventilatory and inotropic support as clinically indicated

Intervention Type OTHER

Follow up assessment at 2 years of age

The assessment will be carried out using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development IV. In addition, all infants will have a detailed neurological examination, including Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) for cerebral palsy, vision, and hearing assessment. Babies who die or who cannot be assessed with the Bayley-IV due to severe disability will be allocated a Cognitive Scale Composite score one point below the basal test score. PARCA-R will be completed by the parents immediately.

Intervention Type DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

All babies born at or after 36 weeks of gestation with a birth weight of 1800g or more with birth acidosis or requiring resuscitation at birth will be screened for eligibility.

Parents will be approached for consent if the baby meets all the three (A + B + C) criteria below:

A. Evidence of intra-partum hypoxia-ischemia defined as any of - (i) Apgar score of \<6 at 10 minutes after birth; (ii) continued need for resuscitation, including endotracheal or mask ventilation, at 10 minutes after birth; (iii) severe birth acidosis defined as any occurrence of pH =\<7.00 or a Base deficit \>=16mmol/l in any cord or baby gas sample within 60 minutes of birth.

B. Evidence of mild hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy defined as - two or more abnormal findings in any of the six categories of the modified Sarnat examination (level of consciousness, spontaneous activity, posture, tone, primitive reflexes, and autonomic nervous system) but not meeting the diagnosis of moderate or severe hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy on a standardised examination performed by a certified examiner between 1 to 6 hours of age.

C. Normal amplitude on aEEG performed for at least 30 minutes between 1 to 6 hours of age. Normal amplitude will be defined as upper margin of the aEEG activity more than 10 microvolts and the lower margin more than 5 microvolts on a single channel aEEG.

Exclusion Criteria

* Infants who meet the BAPM criteria for whole-body hypothermia
* Infants without encephalopathy defined as less than two abnormalities on structured neurological examination.
* Infants with major congenital or chromosomal anomalies identified prior to randomisation.
* Infants with birthweight \<1800g.
* Infants who have already received sedation, muscle relaxation, or anti-convulsants prior to neurological assessment.
Minimum Eligible Age

1 Hour

Maximum Eligible Age

6 Hours

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Imperial College London

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Sudhin Thayyil, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Imperial College London

Seetha Shankaran, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Wayne State University

Locations

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Bradford Royal Infirmary

Bradford, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Neonatal Unit, Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli"

Naples, , Italy

Site Status RECRUITING

William Harvey Hospital

Ashford, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

St Peters Hosptial

Ashford, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Birmingham Heartlands

Birmingham, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal Bolton Hosptial

Bolton, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal Sussex County Hospital

Brighton, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

St Michael's Hospital

Bristol, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Southmead Hosptial

Bristol, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Rosie Maternity Hosptial, Addenbrookes

Cambridge, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

University Hospital Coventry

Coventry, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Darent Valley Hospital

Dartford, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Simpson Centre for Reproductive Health NHS Lothian

Edinburgh, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

Exeter, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Medway Maritime Hospital

Gillingham, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Princess Royal Hospital

Haywards Heath, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Leeds centre for Newborn Care (Leeds General Infirmary)

Leeds, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Leicester Royal Infirmary

Leicester, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Liverpool Women's Hospital

Liverpool, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Homerton University Hospital

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Imperial College Healthcare NHS FT

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Newham General Hosptial

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Northwick Park Hospital

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Queen's Hospital, Barking

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal London Hospital

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

St Thomas Hospital

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Whipps Cross Hospital

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Luton and Dunstable Hospital

Luton, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

St Mary's Hospital

Manchester, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Wythenshawe Hosptial

Manchester, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal Victoria Infirmary

Newcastle upon Tyne, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Queens Medical Centre Nottingham

Nottingham, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

John Radcliffe Hospital

Oxford, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Derriford Hosptial

Plymouth, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Turnbridge Wells Hospital

Royal Tunbridge Wells, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

University Hospital of Wales

Wales, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Whiston Hospital

Whiston, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Royal Albert Edward Infirmary

Wigan, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Worthing Hospital

Worthing, , United Kingdom

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Italy United Kingdom

Central Contacts

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Sudhin Thayyil, MD, PhD

Role: CONTACT

02033132473

Reema Garegrat, MD, DNB, MRCPCH

Role: CONTACT

02033132473

Facility Contacts

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Paolo Montaldo

Role: primary

+39081444075

Madhusudan Guin

Role: primary

Edit Molner

Role: primary

Vidya Garikapati

Role: primary

Archana Mishra

Role: primary

Sam Wallis

Role: primary

01274 38 2668

Ramon Fernandez

Role: primary

Ela Chakkarapani

Role: primary

Katherine Broad

Role: primary

Ragamallika Pinnamaneni

Role: primary

Prakash Satodia

Role: primary

Hemant Ambulkar

Role: primary

Julie-Clare Becher

Role: primary

Nagendra Venkata

Role: primary

Palaniappan Sashikumar

Role: primary

Ramon Fernandez

Role: primary

01444441881

Jon Dorling

Role: primary

Robin Miralles

Role: primary

Balamurugan Palanisami

Role: primary

01517089988

Narendra Aldangady

Role: primary

02085105555

Reema Garegrat

Role: primary

02033113311

Ali Imdad

Role: primary

Richard Nicholl

Role: primary

Ambalika Das

Role: primary

Nandiran Ratnavel

Role: primary

Suresh Victor

Role: primary

John Ho

Role: primary

Bharat Vakharia

Role: primary

01582 497109

Arin Mukherjee

Role: primary

Arin Mukherjee

Role: primary

Jenna Gillone

Role: primary

Dulip Jayasinghe

Role: primary

Eleri Adams

Role: primary

Melanie Philipps

Role: primary

01752202082

Kudzai Mugweni

Role: primary

01622729000

Mallinath Chakraborty

Role: primary

Rosaline Garr

Role: primary

Christos Zipitis

Role: primary

Edward Yates

Role: primary

01903205111

References

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Montaldo P, Cirillo M, Burgod C, Caredda E, Ascione S, Carpentieri M, Puzone S, D'Amico A, Garegrat R, Lanza M, Moreno Morales M, Atreja G, Shivamurthappa V, Kariholu U, Aladangady N, Fleming P, Mathews A, Palanisami B, Windrow J, Harvey K, Soe A, Pattnayak S, Sashikumar P, Harigopal S, Pressler R, Wilson M, De Vita E, Shankaran S, Thayyil S; COMET Trial Group. Whole-Body Hypothermia vs Targeted Normothermia for Neonates With Mild Encephalopathy: A Multicenter Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 May 1;7(5):e249119. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.9119.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 38709535 (View on PubMed)

Garegrat R, Montaldo P, Burgod C, Pant S, Mazlan M, Palanisami B, Chakkarapani E, Woolfall K, Johnson S, Grant PE, Land S, Mahmoud M, Brady T, Cornelius V, Adams E, Dorling J, Aladangadi N, Fleming P, Pressler R, Shennan A, Petrou S, Soe A, Basset P, Shankaran S, Thayyil S. Whole-body hypothermia in mild neonatal encephalopathy: protocol for a multicentre phase III randomised controlled trial. BMC Pediatr. 2024 Jul 18;24(1):460. doi: 10.1186/s12887-024-04935-4.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 39026197 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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326176

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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