Brain Blood Flow and Cerebral Autoregulation Monitoring in Critically Ill Children

Starting soon

Conditions studied: Critical Illness, Pediatric Critical Illness, Respiratory Failure, Traumatic Brain Injury, Cardiac Arrest

In brief

This study uses a non-invasive (external) ultrasound test called Transcranial Doppler (TCD) to measure how blood flows through the major arteries of the brain of children receiving care in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). TCD is already used for clinical reasons in many children, but it is not part of routine monitoring for every critically ill child. By using TCD, the investigators hope to better understand how brain blood flow changes during illness. They will also track children's functional status from before their illness to the time of PICU discharge to explore how brain blood flow patterns relate to neurological outcomes.125 participants will be enrolled and will be on study while in the PICU, estimated to be 3-14 days.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07613918

Run by

University of Wisconsin, Madison

People needed

125

Starts

2026-08-01

Expected to finish

2028-05-01

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-30

Who can join

Age: 0 and older, up to 17. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Has at least one Parent or Legal Guardian who is willing and able to provide informed consent in English
• Mechanically ventilated (Endotracheal tube)
• Indwelling arterial catheter
• Current patient in the American Family Children's Hospital PICU.
• 1 day to 17.5 years of age

You may not qualify if…

• Subjects with a known or obvious anatomic barrier preventing safe application of the transcranial Doppler probe (e.g., cranial dressings, cranial fixation hardware, ventricular access devices positioned over insonation sites, or bilateral craniectomies)
• Patient with known chronic hypertension
• Admission FSS score > 16
• Tracheostomized patient
• The designated sub-investigator (Dr. Talal Al Hendawi) and PI (Dr. Neil Munjal) are unavailable to perform the Transcranial Doppler scan at the time of eligibility. All study scans are performed by either Dr. Al Hendawi or Dr.Munjal to ensure standardization and data integrity. Therefore, if they are unavailable (e.g., due to clinical service, leave, or other scheduling constraints), the patient will not be enrolled in the study.
• Not suitable for study participation due to other reasons at the discretion of the investigators

Where it is running

• American Family Children's Hospital PICU — Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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