SHAPE of Portal Hypertension in Children

Official title

Noninvasive Subharmonic Aided Pressure Estimation of Portal Hypertension in Children

Overview

Early diagnosis of portal hypertension is difficult as symptoms rarely manifest until the later stages of liver disease. Both cirrhotic and non-cirrhotic portal hypertension can result in life-threatening complications, the most frequent of which is bleeding from esophageal varices. In children, variceal bleeds are associated with mortality rates of 1-3 %, while life-threatening complications have been reported in up to 20 % of children with cirrhosis. Despite the high incidence of portal hypertension in children with liver disease, a noninvasive modality to monitor disease progression and risk of complications is currently lacking. Hence, this trial will investigate the safety and efficacy of subharmonic aided pressure estimation (SHAPE) as a noninvasive ultrasound technique for diagnosing portal hypertension in children.

Interventions

• Drug SHAPE measurement using the ultrasound contrast agent Sonazoid (perfluorobutane microbubbles)
  The ultrasound contrast agent will be infused thorough an IV line and SHAPE ultrasound imaging and data acquisition will be performed with a Logiq E10 (GE Medical Systems, Waukesha, WI) ultrasound scanner.
• Drug SHAPE measurement using the ultrasound contrast agent Lumason (sulfur hexafluoride lipid-type A microspheres)
  The ultrasound contrast agent will be infused thorough an IV line and SHAPE ultrasound imaging and data acquisition will be performed with a Logiq E10 (GE Medical Systems, Waukesha, WI) ultrasound scanner.

Primary outcome measures

• The rate (%) of adverse events that occur with Sonazoid compared to the current rate of adverse events that have been reported in the Lumason package insert for pediatric use (0.001%) [Time frame: 2 hours]
• Calibrated subharmonic microbubble signals (in dB) between the portal and hepatic veins will differentiate between the portal hypertension and non-portal hypertension groups with an accuracy of 94% [Time frame: 2 hours]

Secondary outcome measures (4)

• Changes in calibrated subharmonic microbubble signals (in dB) between the portal and hepatic veins over time will predict the development of complications of portal hypertension (variceal bleeding, ascites, hepatopulmonary syndrome, etc) [Time frame: on average 18 months]
• Calibrated subharmonic microbubble signals (in dB) between the portal and hepatic veins and liver fibrosis stage (on a scale from 0-4 as determined by liver biopsy) will correlate with a p<0.05 [Time frame: 2 hours]
• Compare the calibrated subharmonic microbubble signals (in dB) between the portal and hepatic veins obtained with Lumason and Sonazoid, respectively, for their ability to differentiate between the portal hypertension and non-portal hypertension groups [Time frame: 2 hours]
• Compare calibrated subharmonic microbubble signals (in dB) between the portal and hepatic veins to shear wave elastography values (in m/s) using regression analysis [Time frame: 2 hours]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Patients with a diagnosis of chronic liver disease without portal hypertension.
• Patients with a diagnosis of chronic liver disease with portal hypertension.

Exclusion criteria

• Subjects who are pregnant.
• Patients with known or suspected hypersensitivity to egg phosphatidyl serine or with a history of anaphylactic allergy to eggs or egg products.
• Subjects with allergy to egg products or other components of the ultrasound contrast agents will be excluded.
• History of allergic reaction to Lumason®, sulfur hexafluoride, sulfur hexafluoride lipid microsphere components, or other ingredients in Lumason (polyethylene glycol, distearoylphosphatidylcholine (DSPC), dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol sodium (DPPG-Na), palmitic acid)
• History of allergic reaction to Sonazoid
• Patients with biliary atresia with asplenia or polysplenia.
• Patients with prior liver transplant.
• Patients with cystic fibrosis.
• Patients with chronic lung disease.
• Patients with portal vein thrombosis, cavernous transformation of the portal vein or absent portal vein.
• Adults not competent/impaired.
• Patients with significant heart disease or severe congenital heart disease

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

Randomized

Model

Parallel assignment

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Diagnostic

Study locations

United States · 1 center

• The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia — Philadelphia

Publications

• Eisenbrey JR, Dave JK, Halldorsdottir VG, Merton DA, Miller C, Gonzalez JM, Machado P, Park S, Dianis S, Chalek CL, Kim CE, Baliff JP, Thomenius KE, Brown DB, Navarro V, Forsberg F. Chronic liver disease: noninvasive subharmonic aided pressure estimation of hepatic venous pressure gradient. Radiology. 2013 Aug;268(2):581-8. doi: 10.1148/radiol.13121769. Epub 2013 Mar 22. PMID 23525208
• Gupta I, Eisenbrey JR, Machado P, Stanczak M, Wessner CE, Shaw CM, Gummadi S, Fenkel JM, Tan A, Miller C, Parent J, Schultz S, Soulen MC, Sehgal CM, Wallace K, Forsberg F. Diagnosing Portal Hypertension with Noninvasive Subharmonic Pressure Estimates from a US Contrast Agent. Radiology. 2021 Jan;298(1):104-111. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2020202677. Epub 2020 Nov 17. PMID 33201789

Identifiers

NCT: NCT04720456 · 20F.728 · R01DK118964

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗