Brain Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Ultrafast ultrasound (UFUS).
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: CHD - Congenital Heart Disease. Basic parameters: 0 years — 2 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- France
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
Unsure about the terms? Read our patient guide →
Official title
Brain Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging: Application in Pediatric Cardiology: Brain Ultrafast
Overview
Congenital heart defects affect 1 in 100 births in France, with rising prevalence due to better care. Despite improved survival, 40% of children post-surgery face neurological impairments, and some of them show brain lesions. Causes include heart defects, genetic syndromes, and surgeries. Some heart defects and support systems increase cerebral risks. Monitoring cerebral perfusion is difficult to assess but emerging ultrafast ultrasound offers real-time, non-invasive blood flow insights.
Detailed description
Congenital heart defects affect 1 in 100 live births in France. While incidence remains stable, prevalence is rising due to improved medical care, with cases expected to double by 2050. Despite increased survival, neurological comorbidities remain a major concern, with 40% of patients undergoing childhood cardiac surgery experiencing impairments and 73% presenting MRI-detectable brain lesions postoperatively. These injuries result from congenital heart defects, haemodynamic disturbances, genetic syndromes, and neonatal surgeries with extracorporeal circulation.
Some heart defects, such as systemic-to-pulmonary shunts and cyanotic heart diseases, impair cerebral perfusion, increasing the risk of hypoxia and stroke. Mechanical circulatory support systems (e.g. ECMO, cardiopulmonary bypass) also contribute to cerebral risks due to hypoperfusion and clotting complications.
Cerebral autoregulation helps maintain stable perfusion despite blood pressure variations. However, bedside cerebral perfusion monitoring remains challenging leading to reliance on indirect methods like near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and transcranial Doppler (TCD), both with limitations. Ultrafast ultrasound (UFUS) is an emerging non-invasive technique that enables real-time quantification of cerebral blood flow, offering new insights into neonatal cerebral haemodynamics.
Interventions
- Other Ultrafast ultrasound (UFUS)
Ultrafast ultrasound imaging(UFUS), ultrasound images at a very high rate, using a Verasonics system (ultrasound open platform).
Primary outcome measures
- Cerebral blood volume variation [Time frame: at baseline]
- Cerebral blood volume variation [Time frame: at baseline]
Secondary outcome measures (12)
- Evolution of Arterial blood pressure [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of central venous blood pressure [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of left atrial pressure [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of SpO2 [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of SaO2 [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of SvO2 [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of PaCO2 [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of PaO2 [Time frame: at baseline]
- Evolution of Hemoglobinemia [Time frame: at baseline]
- Inotropic drugs dosages [Time frame: at baseline]
- Vasopressive drugs dosages [Time frame: at baseline]
- Sedation dosages [Time frame: at baseline]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Every patient under 2 years old any sex or gender hospitalised in the congenital heart disease unit of the intensive care and anaesthesia for cardiovascular surgery, CHU de Bordeaux.
- Open anterior fontanella
- congenital heart disease
- cardiac shock necessitating mechanical circulatory support.
- Social security affiliation
- Parental or legal guardian's non-opposition
Exclusion criteria
- Anechoic
- Allergy to echocardiography gel.
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
Study locations
France · 1 center
- Haut Lévêque Cardiology Hospital — Pessac
Identifiers
NCT: NCT07299721 · CHUBX 2025/28 · CER-BDX 2025-136