Carboxyhemoglobin in neonatal sepsis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of carboxyhemoglobin as a potential marker of neonatal sepsis
IRAS ID
179646
Contact name
Aubrey J Cunnington
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
As part of the body's response to infection, there is an increase in the production of carbon monoxide within the body. This can be detected as an increase in the amount of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), which is carbon monoxide attached to the red pigment hemoglobin inside red blood cells. Premature and low birth weight babies are particularly vulnerable to bacterial infections, and conventional tests to identify infection often lack sufficient sensitivity to detect infection early on. This means that there is a great need for additional markers that could be helpful to achieve timely, but not excessive, antibiotic use . This population of vulnerable babies often have frequent small blood samples taken to monitor the effectiveness of their breathing, particularly when they are receiving additional help to breathe. In common with many other neonatal units around the world, COHb is routinely measured on these small blood samples on the neonatal units at St Mary’s and Queen Charlotte’s Hospitals, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (ICHNT). However the COHb results are rarely used for any clinical purpose in these babies. Since June 2014, these blood results have been recorded as part of each patient’s electronic laboratory result record at ICHNT. In this study we propose to use these records to investigate whether COHb can be used to identify episodes of infection in a retrospective analysis of longitudinal COHb measurements from routinely collected neonatal blood samples. We will collect this stored data from a one year period, and use it to determine whether COHb increases detectably at the start of an episode of infection. If this is the case, COHb may become a useful additional marker of infection in this vulnerable patient group.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/SC/0263
Date of REC Opinion
6 May 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion