STE in neonates
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessment of cardiac function using 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) in neonates
IRAS ID
365625
Contact name
Asad Abbas
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Birmingham Women and Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
This study aims to improve how we check the heart function of newborn babies, especially those who are sick. While standard heart ultrasound scans are useful, a more advanced and sensitive technique called 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) can detect subtle problems with how the heart muscle squeezes and relaxes. This may allow doctors to spot potential issues earlier.
Our research will take place at Birmingham Women’s Hospital. We will perform these advanced, non-invasive heart scans on several groups of babies:
1. Healthy term and premature babies, to establish a "normal" range of heart function.
2. Babies who are unwell with specific conditions, including those with brain injury due to lack of oxygen at birth (HIE), chronic lung disease of prematurity (BPD), a hole in the diaphragm (CDH), or high blood pressure in their lungs (aPHN).The heart scan is a standard, painless procedure. Using STE does not require any extra scanning time or cause any additional discomfort to the baby; the special images are taken during the routine scan. For many of the sick babies, these scans are already part of their normal clinical care.
The main goals of this observational study are to see if STE is a feasible and reliable tool in newborns, to establish normal values for healthy babies, and to track how heart function changes in sick babies during their illness and recovery.
Ultimately, we hope this research will provide doctors with a better tool to assess heart health in newborns. This could lead to earlier, more accurate detection of heart problems and help guide treatment decisions to improve outcomes for these vulnerable infants.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/SW/0061
Date of REC Opinion
1 May 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion