Effects of propofol and isoflurane on pulmonary vascular resistance

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Randomised cross-over pilot study to determine the effects of isoflurane and propofol on pulmonary vascular resistance in children with pulmonary hypertension

• IRAS ID

  7936

• Contact name

  Michelle White

• Sponsor organisation

  University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust

• Eudract number

  2009-010614-30

• ISRCTN Number

  N/A

• Research summary

  Pulmonary Hypertension is a condition where the pressure in the pulmonary artery (which takes blood from the heart to the lungs) is too high. Pulmonary hypertension has many causes and an investigation called a pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) study is required give information on prognosis, assess the effectiveness of possible medical treatments and determine if any necessary cardiac surgery is safe to perform. A PVR study is carried out under general anaesthetic and uses x-ray screening to position pressure monitors both inside and outside the heart. The procedure usually lasts 90-120 minutes while pressure measurements and blood samples are taken. Accurate measurements are essential so it is important the anaesthetic drugs have minimal or no effect on the pulmonary (lung) blood vessels. Of the two commonly used anaesthetic drugs, ifluane and propofol, there is little if any data on their effects on PVR in children with pulmonary hypertension. Therefore the main aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of ifluane and propofol on PVR in children with pulmonary hypertension. This will be a pilot study of 10 children in order that we may go on to perform a larger study. We hope a larger study will help us improve the care of children with congenital heart disease who need a general anaesthetic.PVR measurements vary widely between individuals therefore we are using a randomised cross-over study design where each child receives both anaesthetic drugs. All the study is performed while the child is asleep and will take less than 15 minutes at the end of the normal clinical investigation and involves an extra blood sample (less than a teaspoonful) and an extra 10 seconds of xrays.The study is being partly funded by charitable donations.

• REC name

  London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  09/H1107/45

• Date of REC Opinion

  8 May 2009

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion